New York

I made it to New York...got here on the 2nd. I had the weekend to get acclimated so on Friday I just ran a few boring errands (toilet paper run and scoped out the immediate area). My apartment is almost centered between Penn Station and Time Square...very cool!! I was pretty tired from all the travel (flew out of Tulsa at 7am) so I went to bed fairly early. On Saturday, I got an early start and just went walking...found some familiar sites like K-mart and Payless! Lucas came up around 1pm and we hung out at my apartment for a few hours and then went in search of food. We ended up in an area with a heavy oriental influence (couldn't even find menus in English) so we just kept walking until we got to Southside Seaport. That was the first place that had anything remotely american! Sunday I did some grocery shopping and ventured out a little further from my apartment. I took the subway to the hospital and figured out where I needed to go for orientation. I started work on Monday with a little "classroom" time to learn IV pumps, code carts, etc and take care of some housekeeping items. I was off Tuesday so I walked around in Chelsea...saw some interesting outfits (on the men!). Wednesday was computer class for the charting system my hospital uses. I am working at Columbia which I'm very honored by...it is ranked 6th in the nation of US hospitals and the neuro department (I'm in Neuro ICU) is ranked 5th. Lucas came up again on Wednesday (he had finished his assignment on Long Island that morning) and we just hung out, walked a little bit, and I had my first taste of Thai food! Thursday and Friday were night shifts on the floor and so far...I like it. It is super crazy busy but part of that is because I'm learning where things are, the routine of the unit, and what the Docs expect. I can see it's going to always be busy but hopefully within a couple of weeks I'll find my rhythm and things will settle some! The best part of things so far is the the residents and fellows from both Neurology and Neurosurgery are literally on the floor most of the night. So, my patient seized and they were actually close enough to come witness! They also accompany us when we have to leave the floor for things like CT and MRI (which I did twice within 6 hours for one of my patients) so there is an extra layer of comfort! I have also met a fellow traveler that lives in my building (we met in orientation on Monday) and we have hung out and are going exploring on Thursday! I'm very grateful for that...really helps keep the loneliness at bay! Tonight is my first night solo...hopefully, I won't have a totally different opinion in the morning!!


This is the view from my apartment...not a great picture but there's certainly lots to see!

This is my living/bedroom! The apartment is lots bigger than I expected...plenty of room for an air mattress or two if I have guests!