Last night

11:something pm. Fortunately, I am still awake because the %^%^*&%*^$%#%^% Oscars last FREAKING FOREVER:

I hang up the phone and sigh "Oh, honey."
Hubby rolls over and looks at me. "That's your Bless Your Heart Voice."
At least I didn't facepalm - been known to do that before during extremely dumb phone call questions.

:)

So I'm in a bit of a style rut...OK a HUGE style rut. As in I still wear clothes from high school (hey, they still fit). My oldest shirt is from 1987 - it has the date on it (summer camp T-shirt).

So my staff has finally had enough. They have done a What Not to Wear intervention. Today, one of the secretaries took me to the big city. I have never shopped at Macy's before. Several hundred dollars later, I have a good start to a new wardrobe. My credit card is crying "You spent money at a department store!!! What gives?!?!?!?!?!"

My office manager has a salon day planned for next week, since I've had the same hairstyle for a long time. I pointed out the ground rules - I don't own a hairdryer or a curling iron, so it really does have to be wash and wear. Oh, and I am bad about keeping up on stuff, so dyeing my hair may not last.

I have great staff at the office. Truly a second family.

nope

I'm thinking that your chlamydia was NOT caught from the stripper pole you dance on at work.

Ewwww.

I really can't make this shit up.

Complications

If you don't get complications, you don't do enough surgery - every attending's motto when I was a resident. Back then, I was sure complications were an excuse to torture us at M&M.

Complications suck. I hate them. I hate being on the other side of them (the last surgery on me had a post-op complication). But there is no way to COMPLETELY eliminate complications.

You can reduce them - certain post-op infections without prophylactic antibiotics approach 25%. When I give pre-op antibiotics, less than 2%. But it is still a number larger than 0. Post-op DVTs can occur in up to 1/3rd of all women undergoing hysterectomies, according to the literature when I was a resident. With SCDs and anticoagulation, we can greatly reduce - BUT NOT ELIMINATE - this complication.

Distorted anatomy can easily cause iatrogenic injury. Endometriosis, previous surgeries, large fibroids, severe pelvic prolapse can all change anatomy. I have transected a ureter because of endometriosis. I have injured bladders because of scarring from previous c-sections. The key is recognition and awareness.

It's hard. We surgeons all like to think we are the best at this - it's how we got here. We all hate having a patient experience a complication.

As I told my ortho - who was feeling horrible for me - I was the best person for a complication because I understood.