Musk ox and medicine
Sorry for the gap. Too much fun the past week. I will have to spread it out over a couple of days to keep the posts to a managable length.
Finally! Muskoxes (?) Muskoxen(?) Muscovites (?) ! Whatever. I finally saw some wild ones (and they are not TLFs, Kyle). Talk about prehistoric. I have seen these things in captivity, but on the wild subarctic tundra, they are a sight to behold. Driving the roads around Nome this weekend we saw four. From a distance, they look very simillar to the discarded oil drums left over from gold rush days (causing many a false sighting). Up close, they are thick and sturdy looking somewhat like a water buffalo with a hula skirt. We saw two single ones (I can't say if they were males or females, as they all seem to have horns and are not particularly shapely). The first was far down the valley below us, grazing and sleeping along a stream bed. The second was right along side the road, allowing us a great close look. The kicker, however, was the final pair. As we drove the 70 mile dirt road toward Teller (a small Inupiaq village to the west of Nome) I saw a couple off in the bushes near the stream bed. I backed our truck up to get a better look, and they burst out onto the road ahead of us. It was totally National Geographic. The first was a huge bull with a light brown mane and a massive set of horns, and the second, I assume, was a much younger, smaller male challenging for hillside dominance and the occupation of such precious turf. We watched for about fifteen minutes, amazed at our luck. A Suburban with some residents of Teller pulled up along side us to watch (and to politely tell us they had to pass on by regardless of the muskoxen) and mentioned that this was a fairly rare treat, something they only see a few times a year. Sweet. Anyway, I was releived to finally have seen the musk oxen I have sought after for the past three weeks, and glad to share the experience with my family.
In other news, the clinic has been keeping me out of trouble. On the good side, I was able to get an ultrasound on a man with chronic back pain, finding kidney stones in the process (special thanks to the nurse who was helping me think things through). He had been suffering for months and had even been to a urologist and had a CT done with no results. It was nice to solve what had been a perplexing problem.
On the bad side, I had to discuss the possibilities with a woman who had rheumatoid arthritis, had been taking methotrexate ( a highly teratogenic - mutation forming for the non medical types), and became pregnant despite birth control measures. A nice woman, a good woman, and a terrible situation. Sometimes being the provider of medicine sucks.
On a last note, the "Unbreakable" was finally broken. I got sick this past week, with some type of viral pharyngitis, for the first time in my recollection. I don't get sick. When I start to feel ill, I have been able to will it away. When others get sick, I stay strong. This startegy has carried me through three years of medical school and hadn't failed me yet. There was a running joke in class as I likend myself to Bruce Willis' character in Unbreakable, some type of super hero who didn't get sick, and was virtually unstoppable despite outwardly being a normal guy. His cryptonite was water, my only cryptonite was my knees. So disappointing, but I got better.
I'll have to write about fish and berries and more philosopical stuff tomorrow. See you then. PS- My family was with for the weekend, so any embellishing that I may do (not that I embellish any of my stories despite the comments of certain friends and relatives) will hopefully be backed up out of love.
Finally! Muskoxes (?) Muskoxen(?) Muscovites (?) ! Whatever. I finally saw some wild ones (and they are not TLFs, Kyle). Talk about prehistoric. I have seen these things in captivity, but on the wild subarctic tundra, they are a sight to behold. Driving the roads around Nome this weekend we saw four. From a distance, they look very simillar to the discarded oil drums left over from gold rush days (causing many a false sighting). Up close, they are thick and sturdy looking somewhat like a water buffalo with a hula skirt. We saw two single ones (I can't say if they were males or females, as they all seem to have horns and are not particularly shapely). The first was far down the valley below us, grazing and sleeping along a stream bed. The second was right along side the road, allowing us a great close look. The kicker, however, was the final pair. As we drove the 70 mile dirt road toward Teller (a small Inupiaq village to the west of Nome) I saw a couple off in the bushes near the stream bed. I backed our truck up to get a better look, and they burst out onto the road ahead of us. It was totally National Geographic. The first was a huge bull with a light brown mane and a massive set of horns, and the second, I assume, was a much younger, smaller male challenging for hillside dominance and the occupation of such precious turf. We watched for about fifteen minutes, amazed at our luck. A Suburban with some residents of Teller pulled up along side us to watch (and to politely tell us they had to pass on by regardless of the muskoxen) and mentioned that this was a fairly rare treat, something they only see a few times a year. Sweet. Anyway, I was releived to finally have seen the musk oxen I have sought after for the past three weeks, and glad to share the experience with my family.
In other news, the clinic has been keeping me out of trouble. On the good side, I was able to get an ultrasound on a man with chronic back pain, finding kidney stones in the process (special thanks to the nurse who was helping me think things through). He had been suffering for months and had even been to a urologist and had a CT done with no results. It was nice to solve what had been a perplexing problem.
On the bad side, I had to discuss the possibilities with a woman who had rheumatoid arthritis, had been taking methotrexate ( a highly teratogenic - mutation forming for the non medical types), and became pregnant despite birth control measures. A nice woman, a good woman, and a terrible situation. Sometimes being the provider of medicine sucks.
On a last note, the "Unbreakable" was finally broken. I got sick this past week, with some type of viral pharyngitis, for the first time in my recollection. I don't get sick. When I start to feel ill, I have been able to will it away. When others get sick, I stay strong. This startegy has carried me through three years of medical school and hadn't failed me yet. There was a running joke in class as I likend myself to Bruce Willis' character in Unbreakable, some type of super hero who didn't get sick, and was virtually unstoppable despite outwardly being a normal guy. His cryptonite was water, my only cryptonite was my knees. So disappointing, but I got better.
I'll have to write about fish and berries and more philosopical stuff tomorrow. See you then. PS- My family was with for the weekend, so any embellishing that I may do (not that I embellish any of my stories despite the comments of certain friends and relatives) will hopefully be backed up out of love.
posted by rob at 11:12 PM
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