A marathon day

I put in 11 hours of general surgery today - in the OR, on the floor, in the clinic, documenting, etc. We had another case of something that my preceptor has never seen before in his many years of practice. More excitement for my last week!

It's hard to believe that I'll be done with this rotation and moving on to the next in days. I've grown fond of the people I've been working with. They've even given me a nickname. There are a few others that share my name, there's even a surgical instrument that I share a name with. It'll be hard to leave. There's a lot that I don't know which is a bit scary, but you can't expect to learn everything in 2 months either. It's tough seeing patients that we've been following and knowing I won't see them again and be able to follow up on their care after this week. For completions sake - I'd like to see the resolution. I guess that doesn't always happen in life. 
I'm celebrating the conclusion tomorrow (a bit early) with pizza and treats to share with my OR team simply because it works in the hectic schedule this week better than other days.

In other news, I ran another half marathon on Saturday with some gals I love in a city that is dear to my heart. It was a perfect day for running on a beautiful course. Later we enjoyed the sights and tastes of downtown - visiting the Farmers Market and the art museum before making our way home. Despite a nice laid back weekend following the long run, I still don't feel rested. I'm anxious about finishing well (remembering all that I should, having the stamina to last all day with enthusiasm and interest for every patient). Just a few more days.

I've gotten more suturing experience. One of the techs told me that I have steadier hands than some surgeons she knows. I fail many times, but it's always nice to get positive feedback like that. The same tech was concerned about when my last day was last week because she knew my time was short. She was relieved when I told her I'd be around for the surgeries this week because they are pretty complicated and an extra set of hands scrubbed in is handy.