Pissin' on the third rail

Golf fans...

The Tiedt Invitational Tournament (T.I.T.) is taking place this weekend.

Join such luminaries as Atwaan Randle El, Coach Ky and others in a helter skelter, 130 mph race across the state of Wisconsin to play in this historic invitational.

And remember... SAFETY FIRST!

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P.S. Quagmire is OK. He heard the explosions of the terrorist attack today in Mumbai, but, thankfully, he was unharmed.

The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you

Boom.

Another guest blog from Quagmire.

Hello again:
Given a choice between the monsoon rains and the Muslim/Hindu religious riots, I prefer the riots. The riots were relatively well-contained and the burning buses were kind of cool. Apparently some vandals desecrated the statue of the late wife of a major religious leader here and that simply will not stand. Despite the distractions, my clinical experience is finally in full-swing.

Last Friday I made the journey to Virar, the village up north where I was to spend all of last week. Though I only stayed one day, it was really cool. I sat in on a delivery. Because they have no choice, the village women are all opting for natural delivery. Also, episiotomy is pretty much mandatory for everyone, despite the fact that most of the babies are born weighing about 4 pounds. The episiotomy was also essentially natural. Some lidocaine was given to the poor woman, but the doctors didn't wait for it to start acting before cutting. Regardless, the baby was born and seemed healthy enough. They wrapped it up like a burrito and whisked it out of the delivery room to show the father. I think the mother is scheduled to see the kid sometime next week.

I spent the weekend in Goa, which is a big resort area on the west coast of India south of Mumbai. The weekend consisted of lounging on the beach sipping Kingfisher beer, visiting Portuguese military forts built in the 1600's and wishing I had a surf board. It reminded me a lot of California and made me miss my adopted homeland on the Pacific.

Today was my first day at one of the public hospitals in urban Mumbai.
I spent the morning "scrubbed" into Surgery. I expected to have to wash and wash and wrap and gown and mask-up before surgery. Nope, I just put on a little hat, a mask and in I went. Not that it mattered, I'm pretty sure I was the cleanest person in the room. Ironically I was the only person not to touch the patient. I wonder if I will ever again have the experience of working in an OR while barefoot. We did three surgeries in a row this morning, an appendectomy, a burned arm reconstruction and an excision of a pilonodial sinus. I'm not sure, but I think in the burn reconstruction surgery, the surgeon was kind of winging it. He and the Anesthesiologist were oft discussing how much tissue to remove to restore complete arm function for the patient. I think even the orderlies were asked their opinions on the matter.

Tonight I go to a private practice clinic in one of the slums of Mumbai. I think this is how the remainder of my month here will be.
Mornings are spent in a hospital and evenings at a small clinic somewhere.

Thanks again to everyone who wrote back. I'll try to answer personal emails as best I can.


Quagmire

Listen to the river sing sweet songs

I am sifting through all my Beartooth pictures and re-sizing them to be blog friendly. Soon, soon, sons and daughters of Scotland.

(Much of the Beartooths is above treeline, and reminds me of Scotland. Plus, I am pretty sure we saw a group of Scotland's wizards getting together to protect Nessie, our underwater ally, from explosive-detonating Japanese scientists.)

In the meantime, we've got a guest blog extravaganza.

Quagmire updates from India:


Well, I didn't think I would be writing again so soon, but our first day of clinic was cancelled. I was supposed to be travelling out to the rural areas where I will be spending the week but the rain has halted all trains. It has been raining constantly since I got here.

I mean that literally, the rain has not stopped even for a few minutes. It is the monsoon season here and July is the most intense month. Also, it's not sprinkling, but rather Midwest in may pounding rain -- big fat drops like those giant jawbreakers you can buy for a quarter in gumball machines. But it's not terribly hot, the rain is warm, and the mosquitoes are not due to emerge until August. It's actually kind of pleasant.

I am now staying in the third place I have been lodged on the trip.
The first was my intimate rendezvous with Lassa, the happy Norse. The next night I stayed at a University guesthouse. I am now where I will be permanently - a hotel suite about 5 min from Klima University. To add more irony to the story, whereas the first night I shared a tiny bed with Thor, I now sleep in a queen size bed alone. I also have AC, a hot shower and can order room service. My roommate is my friend from school who speaks Hindi - a very useful little friend to have. I would say that I have landed on my feet here.

We got our cell phones yesterday at orientation. I would give everyone I know a call except I don't have any numbers. They're all in my personal cell phone, which is sitting on my desk, in the Bronx.

But really, this is me, I probably wouldn't call anyway. I'm just not that guy. If you feel strongly, send me your number and I'll do what I can.

Well, that's all I have for now. Thanks to all who wrote back. I'll update again when I get the chance and I'll try to have more entertaining material next time.

Quagmire

P.S. The dysentery fairy is dead, long live the malaria fairy.