Not Much There

By 'there,' I mean in my memory. I don't mean to speak badly about Alabama. There's a good medical school there and that's where space camp is. As a matter of fact, the only memory I have from Alabama is at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. My family stopped there on the way to Disney World one year. Obama won Alabama, and Huckabee seems to have the upper hand on the other side.

Bison bison

Obama won North Dakota! I drove through North Dakota when I moved to Seattle! My PhD advisor is from North Dakota! The latin name for buffalo is Bison bison! That's redundant!

The Other Thanksgiving

Before I ended up in college in Pennsylvania, if my family traveled for Turkey Day, it was to St. Louis to visit my Dad's mom and sisters. Favorite November activities included the St. Louis Science Center and playing Rummikub. I traveled back to MO for a med school interview and for the 2006 AAAS meeting. Both times I was privileged to be able to hang out with my aunt and uncle again. What was the point of this post? Oh yeah - it looks like Clinton's got it for the Dems. The Reps are in a three-way heat, however.

Update 9:15 PST: Obama has pulled ahead by a hair in MO.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving get-togethers at Bridgewater, NJ. Several cousins with careers in the sciences. Psychiatry. Metallurgy. Medicine. Bioengineering. Conversations about politics that the older (more political diverse) generation avoided... Advice about medical school. Delicious turkey.

Clinton and McCain nab the Garden State according to everyone except the NYTimes.

Going to Mass

They're not Catholic, but Clinton and Romney collected the offering that state had to offer.

This live blogging business is hard. Must stay focused. Maybe I'll try a checklist.

My time in Massachusetts: Staying in the Boston youth hostel to visit my sister at Northeastern.
Science in Massachusetts: Ripping my pants at the Whitehead Institute when I toured MIT as a prospective undergraduate.

Hmmm... I'll strike the checklist. How many states do I have left? 15!!!?!?!?!!! Yikes!

Delaware

Delaware = Obama according to CNN
I built castles of sand at Rehoboth.
Now I'm an engineer. Kindof.

Arkansas

The former first lady has AR on the blue side, and the former governor won on the red. The two were never married, however. That would be interesting, wouldn't it. When I was in high school, I went on a church mission trip to Benton, Arkansas where we did home repair a la Habitat for Humanity. On our day off, we all went river canoeing. When one canoe wedged between the current and a rock, I helped free it. In the process, I smashed a finger. For that, I got a splint and some Tylenol-3. Arkansas ERs look similar to those elsewhere. When I grow up, I might be an ER doctor. I probably will not work in Arkansas, however.

New York!

I got engaged in New York City. It was an elaborate scavenger hunt featuring lions and bears and an awesome sister who took an overnight Greyhound trip from Boston to help stage it. Anyway, the papers seem to think Clinton one this one. She'd be in trouble if she didn't.

New Years' Eve

Southern Miss routed my alma mater in the 1997 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN. Three friends from Pitt and I took a winter Midwest road trip to Memphis for the big game. (All Pitt students got free tickets - we just had to show up.) My adventure went from Libertyville, IL to Gary, IN to Newton, IL to Memphis, TN. Pitt lost 7-41. The consolation was seeing Rufus Thomas sing "Walkin' the Dog" on the streets of Memphis. What's the science connection here? One of my friends went on to be the science education director at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center.

Oh Yeah, Fox seems to think Clinton won TN.

Ill: A Noise

I lived in Illinois from 4th grade to high school. Suburban Chicago, of course. I was one of the kids in my group of friends who was allowed to drive into the city whenever I wanted. Well, almost. So I spent a good deal of my high school free time doing stuff down there. Highlights (in retrospect, of course) include taking advantage of my parents' memberships at the Field Museum and Art Institute. I saw a coelacanth (preserved) in a behind the scenes tour once. Lots of formative years as a scientist in Illinois, too. Thank you Abbott Laboratories and Libertyville High School.

Of course, this one went to Obama. I wonder what the margin will be.

Are You OK?

Somebody says that Clinton's got Oklahoma. I'm not so sure. OK is the only state in the union I haven't set foot in. According to my father, with whom I am in a 50 state competition, riding a train through the panhandle doesn't count. As far as I know, Oklahoma is the flattest state. The Earth, however is not flat. But some people used to think it was.

GA was Peachy

The best thing to come out of Georgia for me was a chance encounter with a kindred soul. I was interviewing for the MD/PhD program at Emory & Georgia Tech and met Lee; there for the same reason. We just clicked. Since then, we have probably spent a total of 8 days together. My top three schools were the UW, Emory and UCSD. He preferred UCSD, Emory and the UW. So we ended up on the left coast but in different corners. I saw him when I was in La Jolla for a conference and happened to be at another conference in Michigan the weekend he got married there. Well anyway, it looks like Obama won.

WIld & Wonderful

So the WV GOP goes to Huckabee... If ou're down with GOP, you're down with Huckabee...

My most fond memory from West Virginia is a backpacking trip in the Otter Creek Wilderness with Peter Cheeze and my friend Damion. It rained the whole time. We jumped into streams to clean off the mud. The sky always seemed to brighten, only to pour harder. The trip ended with several hours at a business called Leisure Laundry in back woods WV. Later in that trip, we saw Damion's brother perform in a State Park production of The Hatfields & McCoys. Fun Times!

Image from CNN.

Live Blogging

Since I've decided to skip studying for the political super bowl tonight, I'm going to try my hand at live blogging. Since the major outlets (I'm following NYTimes) have pretty good coverage with political substance, I will provide accounts from each state that range from random to esoteric. (All will be based on my own experiences in each state.)

For those of you who run a feeder with my blog, I am sorry to clog it up today.

An Election Spoiler

Are you planning on reading political commentary, listening to the news channel talking heads or gathering with your friends to watch the election results roll in tonight? If that's all you'll be doing, you'll be missing out on the analytical powers of prophesy offered by one of the most sought after prognosticators of the primary election in one small region of Spokane, Washington. Specifically, I refer to the interactive science art installation titled:

"These Colors Don't Run (they grow mold, ferment, degrade, are infested with insects, turn to slime and just plain smell bad):
A Long Term Study Of The Forces Of Nature On Assorted Fruits From The Western United States"
Wood, Glass, Found Berries
Thomas Robey
January 8, 2008 - February 5, 2008

A longitudinal record of this tool demonstrates its 100% accuracy as a predictor of primary election outcomes - of all parties! But here's a refresher. I started out back on the "First in the Nation" primary on January 8 with an idea that an evolving installation of natural and formed elements could actually tell me who would win the presidential election. To my surprise, by the time Nevada and South Carolina rolled around, the test tubes' predictions corresponded to the outcomes of the race.

But that's all history. Today we face something bigger, something monumental, something so important that I am forced to turn to rotten fruit for guidance.

Let's start by taking account of the facts. The red rose hips are moldy. They have been consumed with different species. A mild filamentous growth is competing with a blue-green bread mold. That's right, red is being consumed by blue. More on that later. The most striking finding is that the snowberries have been consumed by a monoculture pearly filamentous species. The white rose hips are untouched. The small false grape have developed a dusting of white at the bottom inch or so of that sample. Surprisingly, the blue marbles' plaque-like mold has receded from the two fruits closest to the cork.

Here's what I draw from these findings:

1. The Republicans (red rose hips) are spoiled. While not yet rotten, if one were to venture too close, a foul odor would certainly be detected.
2. Red voters are thinking of crossing over to vote for blue candidates (blue mold).
3. What once was portrayed as a leader/follower race on the blue side is now more balanced. One candidate has backed off on the degradation, while the other has wavered from the 'fresh' category to something better described as 'stale.'
4. Whatever snowberries (third from left) represent is doomed. Maybe the middle road is still treacherous in American politics?

Anyone else want to throw in their two cents? I feel like I didn't inhale enough ethylene gas fumes before I started my interpretation. So come on: recruit your inner oracle to help me out. The fate of the free world is depending on it.

Step 1: Vote. Step 2: ...

Tomorrow's the big day. Everyone expects McCain to get the Republican nomination, while that same 'everyone' seems to think that the Clinton/Obama race will not be decided by this time tomorrow. That means that many more people's votes will 'count' in this primary season than in a long time. (Ever?) If you're undecided about voting, please get out there and pick someone. I am not one to criticize how you select a candidate. If you're not careful, I could get all cliche on you with over-the-top statements like, "You've got the power!" or something.

If you are a scientist who wants to make a difference in Washington, you can do more than vote. You can lobby! The best part is that you can get a travel scholarship to do it. I flew to D.C. last year and met with the staffs from three of my elected officials, as well as several others. The Coalition for Life Sciences sponsors three Hill Days each year. You go to D.C., get trained about how to lobby for science, and then go home enlightened/jaded/cynical about the legislative process. Sound interesting? Check out this information. The Hill Days they have scheduled are March 12, 2008, May 7, 2008 and July 9, 2008. The deadline for applications for March is February 13. By the way, this group used to be call the Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy, but who knew that had anything to do with science? I'm glad they changed their name.

I went last year the weekend after I defended. It was the first time someone (other than my family) addressed me as "Dr. Robey." If you want to read about some of my experiences, I wrote a few posts last fall about my time. Otherwise, drop me an email, and I could answer specific questions you have about it.

And don't forget to check back in tomorrow to see the ultimate in elections predictions. I've been tracking the early returns, and I think there could be a spoiler!

A New Convergence?

Is there room at the center to talk about religion and politics? Jim Wallace of the Sojourners thinks so. He's got a new book describing our country as the post-religious right America. I haven't read it, but Seattle PI's Joel Connelly got me interested enough to put it on my Amazon wish list. I think I'd even subscribe to Sojourners Magazine. If only I had more time to read. I've kinda got a backlog. And there's something else I have to do...

What was it?

Shoot, I'm getting forgetful in my old age.

Super Bowl Commercial

If you are as un-American as I am, and will not be watching the Super Bowl this afternoon, or if you happen to live in one of the 26 states that will not have elections this week, you may yet be interested in seeing the first commercial ever placed in the Super Bowl by a political candidate*.



I'm sure it varies by market, but that this spot costs about $250,000 dollars in Boston. Now we know where that $32 million raised in January is going. Might it have been cheaper to buy a national spot?

I still haven't decided, but things keep pointing in the direction of Obama for me... I'm going to review the two remaining Dems' positions on health care again before I make a decision.

What am I doing with my time not spent in front of the TV?

1. During the daylight, I'll be sledding.
2. At night, I'll be working on manuscript revisions.
   

Hat tip to The Caucus blog, who by the way, misuses an apostrophe in the second paragraph of the post. It's not like I never misuse punctuation, but doesn't the NYTimes need to be held to a higher standard?
*I'm actually not sure this is true, but it sounds true. Can anyone out there help me fact check?

Double Dipping

It's time for the Super Bowl, and you know what that means - you'll be going to a Super Bowl party. The folks over at ScienceBlogs are making a big deal about double dipping - you know, the socially scorned practice of going back into the spinach dip or salsa with a chip that you had already munched. Dr. Free-Ride, Greg Laden, OmniBrain and Tara Smith all have chimed in. Evidently there's a lot of bacteria that gets transferred in the mouth to chip to dip to chip to mouth pathway. 10,000 bacteria. That sounds like a lot. Or is it?

1) How many of those bacteria cause disease?
2) How many of them do you not have in your mouth already?
3) What's the equivalent transfer from multiple hands going into the same snack bag?

Frankly, I'd rather get someone else's mouth bacteria than their hand bacteria. Because you know what hand bacteria is the same as? That's right, folks: butt bacteria. And butt bacteria can cause real problems.

And there's one more thing. If you really want to stay healthy during the Super Bowl, don't bother with safe dipping. In this case, I advocate dip abstinence. What's in those dips? Mayo, cheese, sour cream, butter; this equals fat, fat, fat, salt salt salt. And that's before we consider the chip... Now I don't have any evidence behind this, but my hunch is that this stuff will kill you faster than the bacteria you'll pick up this afternoon.

Just say no to dips and chips. You'll avoid anxiety over bugs, and your waist will thank you.

Four Of Twelve

I just spent a good 15 minutes leaning back in a La-Z-Boy staring at a popcorn ceiling thinking about precisely nothing. My wife is cuddled up on the faux leather sofa mumbling about blanket transplants.

These are the small joys of being a third year medical student.

It's nice to be home. Kindof. We've transformed this very brown apartment that the University of Washington provides for us into a semblance of home. Cut apart calenders adorn the walls, her orchids contrast with the snow outside, and my art projects sit around screaming out for explanation.

Today was our last day of inpatient call in Spokane, WA. Eight more weeks of medicine to go, but more on that later.

Today offered nice closure for me. At 1:00 I was invited to do a knee arthrocentesis. (At 12:45, I watched a video about how to do it.) After one unsuccessful poke (not deep enough), the syringe started to fill with a slightly cloudy yellow fluid. I pulled 20 cc out, disconnected the needle and proceeded to extract another 25 cc to reduce the joint space pressure and provide symptomatic relief. We then sent three vials to the lab for cell counts, Gram stains and chemistry.

A successful procedure.

But wait! There's more!

My senior resident had arranged for a rheumatologist to look at the sample. We were thinking septic arthritis (arthritis caused by infection), but had a suspicion that something else was going on. The patient didn't have a fever, both knees hurt and both wrists hurt; this is all a little strange for an infectious cause.

The thing is, the rheumatologist happened to be across town. Guess who filled the role of messenger. I've written about how medical students don't do a lot that is not duplicated. How could I forget about the vital role of urgently transporting samples? I was surprised about how important I felt walking around with a biohazard transport container. (Thinking in my head the irony of the statement, "Get this to rheumatology, STAT!")

When I found the office where the sample was to be read, it turns out that the doc was really busy and someone had totally botched up his microscope. He was having a dandy of a time getting the sample in focus. Isn't it convenient that I spent four years in a pathology research lab hunched over scopes? When I had finished preparing the wet mount, I called him over to look at something like this:

I've said it before, and while it may come off as a little pretentious, I kindof like the sound of:

What's your diagnosis, doctor?

After leaving the scope much better than I found it, I headed back to the hospital, where we promptly started dexamethasone therapy and discontinued the vancomycin he was on (His ears had started to ring).

My adventures concluded by visiting the patient to update him about what we found and how we changed his medicines. I left his room at 3:45.

This is medicine: suspicion, diagnostic procedure, microscopic laboratory examination, diagnosis, therapy decision. Hopefully the result is a patient free of pain and home for the Super Bowl.

You better believe I'll think twice before telling someone "I'm waiting for a lab result" again.

This patient agreed to my writing about him on the internet. ("After all, it's not like you're sticking me with a big needle," he said.) Also, my wife attests to the accuracy of my portrayal of our evening .