I'm okay

Over the past few months, I've had that Sally Field moment multiple times because of you guys - no, not the "I used to look good" moment (although I've had that one in multiples too, it's not because of y'all) - I mean the "...I can't deny the fact you like me. Right now, you like me!"

People I know in real life are asking other people I know in real life about me. I'm getting a steady stream of comments and emails. Thanks so much you guys, it means a lot.

I just have a few minutes, but I just wanted to say that I haven't quit blogging, I don't intend to quit blogging (there's a caveat there, though - read on). I'm on yet another medical/personal leave from school because of the evil pancreatitis, which is being so very, very evil this time around. So much pain, which leads to inability to do anything, which leads to depression because this is NOT what I would like to be doing with myself at 30 (by the way, I'm 30, y'all. More on that later too.) Then the pain-induced depression leads to lethargy and lack of motivation, which means that I don't feel like doing the things I love to do (photography, fiddling with my pictures in Lightroom/Photoshop, running around with Scott and with friends, staying awake, and writing, among others.) So that explains the long hiatus.

After my school's administration sent parts of my blog to the hospital's risk management department, for crying out loud, to make sure I'm not a liability (again, for crying out loud! Do they really think I'd talk about patients in such a way that they could be identified? No way. I've had HIPAA ingrained into my daily way of life, and while I do talk about pathophysiology, patient presentation, and management of conditions that I find interesting, those conditions may be based on a patient that I saw (if so, NO personal details provided, obviously) or may be something that I read. Anyway, I will switch most of my school talk to another, completely anonymous blog. Most of my medical ramblings will be elsewhere, because the alerting of freaking risk management, which really makes me feel horrible (although for all I know, they alerted re: all blogs/Facebook/etc. that they were aware of) is not going to happen again. Besides, I don't even tell you my last name anywhere on this blog, and while I say I'm in West Virginia, I don't say which school I'm attending. Except I did say that I went to Marshall for my undergraduate degree (when We Are Marshall came out, I posted about that) - that doesn't mean I'm there now. Plenty of West Virginians go to WVU for undergrad and Marshall for medical school and vice versa. Even so, my medical ramblings have found a new, anonymous home.

I'm also thinking of starting a photography blog, too. If I do, that one won't be anonymous and I'll let y'all know.

Re: turning 30 - yep. Since I feel, physically, like I'm 60 already, I was underwhelmed by my 30th birthday. Do you know what did happen, though? I suddenly got interested in HGTV (the home & garden channel) for no reason in particular, literally on the day after my birthday. Weird. So now I'm TiVoing things like Design on a Dime, and I try to catch House Hunters and Curb Appeal or whatever else. Good times.

What else? Oh, I discovered How I Met Your Mother - love it! I watched the first three seasons on DVD within about 3 days, and am now almost caught up on Season 4. I did have a little problem with the Doogie transition into a barhopping, one-night-standish guy (because I used to luuuuuuurve Doogie. Not Neil Patrick Harris - Doogie. It was doomed from the start, though, because I was underage (11) and he didn't exist. Ah well.)

I've missed you guys. More later.