Friday afternoon I saw my third hospital in-patient: this woman was sicker than the previous two. Fifty-seven going on 75, she had profound edema and venous stasis as a result of congestive heart failure and acute kidney failure; the suspected underlying cause is amyloidosis (abnormal protein formation and deposition in tissues), possible of multiple myeloma form. I have already been introduced to amyloidosis and multiple myeloma this year, but of course I remembered nothing about them until I looked it up Friday night. And I found, contrary to what I might have expected, that spending time reading up on these diseases online--dwelling on this woman's condition in a scientific sense--made me care more about her in a human sense. This caring happened subconsciously, until I landed upon the prognosis and sat back, surprised and sad.
In happier news, last night we had a Thanksgiving potluck at our place. In case you thought med students couldn't cook, here's a list of our spread (all homemade):
Dinner items:
- poutine with mushroom gravy
- stuffed mushrooms
- potato latkes and apple sauce
- sweet potato fries
- spicy stuffed sweet potatoes
- purple mashed potatoes
- some cranberry-whipped cream-gelatin floating concoction
- veggie loaf "brisket" with veggies
- roast broccoli
- roast green beans with crispy onions and almonds
- sausage, bean, kale, and sweet potato soup
- salad with walnuts and cranberries
- dinner rolls
- naan
Dessert items:
- pumpkin and apple pies
- apple crisp (two versions)
- rhubarb crisp
- baklava
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