Top Ten: Roller Coaster of Love!

Well. Last week was a good week. A full week, no less, but a good one. As I mentioned in my last post--I've been making the most out of my time.  This week involved a very nice blend of both work and play.

Matter o' fact, I wrote a little top ten about it.  Like to hear it? Here it go!

Which reminds me.

Every time I say those words "Like to hear it? Here it go!" make sure you imagine it in the Calhoun Tubbs voice -- not mine, okay? Because that's how I'm saying it. Just saying.

Too young to know who that is? Here you go.



You can thank me later.


Now. I bring you. . .

THE TOP TEN THINGS I DID TO MAKE 

THE MOST OUT OF LAST WEEK

#10 -- Welcoming a batch of new interns

I LOVE the beginning of our academic year precisely for this reason. Meeting new interns and imagining how much they are about to grow before my eyes is the cat's pajamas, I tell you.

So far, they seem like an awesome bunch. Very diverse, very accomplished but more important, very excited about taking care of patients! They were gracious during all of the obligatory blah-blah-blah that we bombard them with in that first week.

Yay.

#9 -- Catching with David M.

David M. is quite possibly busier than President Obama. And out of town speaking more than Mr. President. (He's also equally as easy on the ol' eyeballs . . . .but I--cough--digress.)

I finally pinned David down for some lazy afternoon laughs last week. We LOL-ed until our stomachs were sore. We talked about our professional lives and about our personal lives.  And that was cool since even though we are work-friends, more than that we are simply friends. I asked annoying questions about his man-friend that I've rooted for since day one. He asked me about the BHE and heard all about what was new with Team Manning. I asked him what was next for him as the world's greatest HIV-in-black-men expert. He asked me about what I was writing these days.

Then he took a picture and tzujj-ed it all up on this things called "Instagram" that admittedly, I do not understand at all. (Kind of like Facebook, but pictures? Sorta? Kinda? Sigh.)

Anywho. That was a great part of my week because David inspires me.

#8  -- Being serenaded. Sort of.

I've been so many places.
I've seen so many things--but none quite as lovely as you.
More beautiful than the Mona Lisa, worth more than gold. . 
. . that my eyes have the pleasure just to behold.


You're my latest. . .and my greatest. . .my latest my greatest inspiration.


Things never looked clearer.
Peace within never felt nearer.
My burden's gone and turned into a song.
Tender as a baby's touch--I needed you oh so much.
At last, the Lord saw light.


You're my latest and my greatest--my latest, my greatest inspiration.


I plan to give you all that I have
I'll be everything. . .everything you think I am.
You make life a joy to live.
And I'm thankful--yes, I'm blessed--just to know you. . . . 


~ Teddy Pendergrass

Okay seriously?

So this old school song by Teddy P.  has obviously been playing on Harry's mental iPod this week because he kept singing it to me and all around our house at the top of his lungs. We subsequently downloaded it and played it no less than five trillion times this week.



I especially love the part where he starts freestyling and crooning out, "You inspire me! You inspire me!"

Because that's how I feel about the BHE. I think I could listen to that throaty, soulful song twelve trillion more times. . . and think I will now.

Seriously? Seriously.

#7  -- Full circle moment.

This picture was taken in 1996 when I was a medical student. Next to me is my friend, Yolanda W., who is also a Grady doctor with Morehouse School of Medicine. (Grady Hospital is staffed by physicians from both Emory University School of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine.)

Yolanda oversees the residency programs there and, of course, since we're such good and old friends, we never hesitate to tap into one another for resident education needs. She's super gracious with giving lectures for us at Emory in her area of expertise (adolescent health), so it's a no-brainer whenever she calls on me.

MSOM, last week

Last week, I gave a lecture on medical professionalism to the incoming interns at Morehouse as a part of their resident orientation. My talk was at 9 that morning, and following me on the schedule was the president of Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. John Maupin.

Okay--let me give you some quick background. Dr. Maupin was the president at Meharry Medical College when Yolanda and I were still there as students. At the end of my lecture, the two of us (Yolanda and me) were standing at the front of the room side by side fielding questions. When Dr. Maupin got up to speak, he looked at us like a proud papa would. His eyes were almost wet with emotion.

"I remember these two as medical students like it was yesterday. What a special moment it is to see them all grown up and giving back."

And he said that like he meant it.

 That was a good part of my week, too.

#5 -- Photos from Camp PaPa

'Nuff said.

#4 -- Key Lime Pie and College BFFs

(from Instagram--I'm a fast learn.)

These two ridiculously gorgeous women happen to be two of my closest girlfriends. Joy (in the black) and MarraKesha (in the yellow) went to college with me at Tuskegee University and we all pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority together twenty years ago. 

Twenty years ago!

Yeah, so being with them is like wearing my Ugg boots and my fuzzy Paul Frank pajama pants--easy and comfortable. No need to censor my words or wonder if they'll think I'm weird.  Because our adult friendship has evolved to something much deeper than the already deep sorority bond we shared as college girls.

MarraKesha, me, and (our other line sister, Tasha)

Or even ten years ago.

10th Line Anniversary, 2002

We call each other close friends who found each other through our sorority. And honestly? We love being Delta girls. But that's such a tiny part of the relationships we have forged outside of our pledge line reunions and homecoming celebrations.

So much more.

Joy's wedding day, 1998

So last night we laughed. And talked. 

And split a perfect slice of Key Lime pie.

Perfect.

#3 -- Even MORE BFF time!

I had some absolutely perfect time with my Grady BFF, Lesley M. this weekend, too. 

I know! Aren't you just loving all this meaningful friend-time I've been carving out? 

So here's what's funny. We met at this super cute and swanky coffee shop in downtown Decatur which is funny since Lesley M. doesn't even drink coffee!  

See? But she knows how much I love it so even though she may not admit it, I think she did that just for me.

For over two hours, we sat and talked and listened to one another. We got our "upload" from one another and as Lesley said, "All this does is leave us wanting more."

It was as wonderful as it sounds.

#2  --  My cup runneth over.

Received this from a medical student this week.

And cried the minute I saw it.

Joelle R.?  Thank you for getting my quirky way of teaching. Thank you for understanding the "My mama rule" and for providing me with this thoughtful affirmation. Every time I drink from this cup, I will try harder and will teach and role model with more intention.

Thank you for inspiring me, too.

#1  -- Roller Coaster. . . .of love with my favorite Ohio player!  Woo-hooooo-hooo- hooooo!

So I bet you are looking at all of this and thinking--HEY! What's with all these get-togethers with everyone except the BHE?!

Maaan, please.  On Friday, we had the best date ever.

Starting with.. . . .

Six Flags! Sans bebes! Woo-hooooo!

I left work early and so did Harry. We headed over to Six Flags over Atlanta for some old school fun on roller coasters and log jammer rides.

And of course with ridiculously fattening funnel cakes!

I ate the whole funnel cake by myself since Harry tried to go all health-nutty on me asking if it was deep fried. Uhhh, doesn't he realize that nothing has calories if you paid seven hundred and fifty dollars for it in an amusement park? Hello?!

I kept trying to get these guys to talk to me. But they were steadfast to the rules of staying in character.

"Are y'all, like, ridiculously hot in there?"

And they just did the head-bob thing that character people do. Harry said that was an obnoxious question, that's why they didn't answer.

Hmmmm. Maybe.

He is so over my camera!

Harry demonstrated that he is a winner in more ways than I even realized. He won that basketball on the first try. Go BHE!  

We headed to the biggest mama-jamma in the park -- "The Goliath."  That sucker was serious business. 

And how awesome was it that all of the lines were pretty much non-existent this day? We waited fifteen minutes tops for all rides including this one. So awesome.

The BHE was at his R-MAX (roller coaster maximum) but his wife had a sixth-grader second wind and wanted MORE! MORE! MORE!

When I pointed at this puppy, he had three words for me:

"Aww hells naw!"

With a ten minute line, don't think I didn't deuce him out and go BY MY OWN-SELF.

Mmm hmmm. Surely did.

You can't tell but me and this lady next to me waited in the line to sit in the FRONT row of the roller coaster.  She was super scared but I wasn't.

Nope.

So. Much. Fun.

Next? We went to the W Hotel downtown for an Atlanta "stay-cation." Here's the view from where we had dinner that night.

How cool is that?

This is from the swanky pool on the sixteenth floor. There was a DJ up there and everything. We were so crazy-sexy-cool, I tell ya.

The next morning we hung out and were lazy.

Loved this picture of the BHE's ring on the hotel nightstand. It felt so tryst-y and naughty.

Ha.

We finished that morning up with a visit to the hotel spa (Bliss Spa) and after checking out had some breakfast at one of our favorite places to eat (Another Broken Egg.)

And NO, we don't go to spas all the time or pretty much ever unless it involves a gift card or a vacation. But we decided that this was a vacation so we decided to go for it.

So glad we did.

***
Happy Sunday, to all of y'all.

Now playing on my mental iPod. . . . Roller coaster of love by the Ohio Players!

Faces of Grady: Hepatitis, see?

My dear, dear friend and (award-winning) Grady doctor, Lesley M., focuses her practice on patients with Hepatitis C.  And let me just share a few things about Hepatitis C.

• Hepatitis C is a viral hepatitis. That means that a person gets infected with a virus (that gets transmitted mostly through blood) which subsequently attacks the liver. 
• Hepatitis C is a smooth criminal. It does its damage slowly . . .kind of like the way termites do. And the same way folks don't realize they have termites until all hell is breaking loose or they get swarmed is the same way Hep C sneaks up. Stealthy, I tell you.
• Some crazy number of people in the U.S. have Hepatitis C. Crazy meaning nearly 3.2 million according to the CDC. And because it's such a ninja, people don't feel sick so they don't know they even have it. In fact, most are shocked to hear they have it. 
• African-Americans are disproportionately affected by Hepatitis C, and also are more likely to have the genotype that is harder to treat.

This lady likes liver.

Okay. So seeing as I work at Grady with Lesley M., it's fair to say that we see our share of folks with Hep C. Well back in the day, shortly after Lesley and I first joined the Grady faculty together,  Lesley and another one of my other favorite people began putting together a better way to help our patients with Hepatitis C. Our other Grady-bff, Natalie L., who has since become the New York equivalent of a Grady doctor (a Bellevue doctor), was one of the people that, along with Lesley, spearheaded what became Grady's "Liver Clinic."

Friends first. Nerdy-public hospital doctors second. Reunion here with our favorite Bellevue doctor, Nat L.

Here's what's cool about what Lesley and others do in the Liver Clinic: First of all, Lesley isn't a hepatologist or to put it in layman's terms, a "liver specialist."  Quite the contrary, actually. Lesley is a general internist (like me) who saw a need for patients that wasn't being met. She has since devoted her time and career to assisting patients with learning about Hepatitis C and especially navigating the oft times tricky task of getting the expensive treatment. Lesley gets with all sorts of people with resources and helps make these available to our patients. She then manages and directs all aspects of their care surrounding Hepatitis C--which takes a tremendous amount of effort, work, and attention to detail.

When you think about the ways that people get Hepatitis C, you realize how awesome it is for our patients to have her there. A lot of people with Hep C have led some hard lives. Some acquired it through injecting IV drugs or getting crude tattoos in jail. Others may have been transfused or come in contact with bodily fluids at some point. And, sure, there are a significant number of people who did none of those things and have no idea how they got it. But where we work, lots of people seen for this have some kind of story.  I like knowing that they can get the treatment they need and deserve without having to get judged at the same time, don't you?

Anywho.

The Liver Lady also teaches the residents, faculty and students about Hep C. I'd go so far as to say that, thanks to her, we are ALL more aware of the need to test patients for Hepatitis C at Grady--and even better, we get them treatment. It's so different than it was when I first started here. We'd try to send our patients with Hep C to our gastroenterologists who were already overwhelmed with multiple other GI issues in our patient population. That, combined with the expense of getting folks treated, meant that people fell between the cracks if they had no insurance (which our patients rarely have.) This woman has, literally, changed the lives of countless people by watching the blind side for folks who don't see cirrhosis coming to tackle them head on. That's what I'm talking about.

Yeah, man.

So recently, the CDC put out these videos on the "Faces of Hepatitis."  Lesley M. was featured in this video that, OMG, I just saw for the first time Thursday. This is absolutely subpar considering she is one of my besties and also the person that caused me to go very close to the ugly cry at Celebratory Grand Rounds last year.

So. . . .here it is. My friend and fellow Grady doctor, Lesley M. talking about treating patients with Hepatitis C. Oh, and if she looks like an amazingly kind and sweet human being? It's only because she is.  I kind of teared up when I watched this--and refuse to watch it again because I'm certain I will full-on cry if I do.

You know why?

First of all, because Lesley is my friend and I respect, love and am proud of her. And second of all because she shows a side of Grady hospital that people don't often see. Many think of what we aren't doing right or feel skeeved out by some of our patients or even imagine it as only a place for trauma. But see, it isn't. It's a place that has people like Lesley M.. . . a woman so accomplished that upon graduating from residency she was awarded the "Best Resident" title. This means she could be anywhere in the world--including a marble building with slick floors and insured patients--but she has chosen to be here. Yes,  she has.

This? Man, this is the Grady I know. And I'm proud to be working shoulder to shoulder with people like Lesley the Liver Lady.

*sniffle*

Damn, I love this place.

***