Animal Word Quilt -- Finished!

Updated 3/2017--  all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

It’s finished!

I recently gave it to the husband/wife team of veterinarians who have taken care of my dogs over the years. You can check them out at their website or Facebook page.

The quilt is machine pieced and quilted. It is 52.5 in X 62.5 in.
I love this
Still haven’t decided which word block I like the best. Sometimes I think it’s just certain letters like the “k” in monkey or the “a” in toucan or the “a” in gator
or the “E” in horse or the “b” in bear or the “d” and “o” in dog.
Or this “C” in cow which ended up sticking out into the border. I had to hand applique that portion down.
Here is the back.

Previous posts on this quilt:
Word Play Quilting
Animal Names Word Quilt – WIP

Animal Names Word Quilt – WIP

I previewed some of the word blocks for this quilt earlier.  I have now completed the piecing.  Here’s how the top looks.  Now I have to do the quilting.

Here you can see the bear and camel blocks.
Here is the elephant hiding out in the “n”
Here is the gator in the “a”

Word Play Quilting

You may recall the eye words quilt I made last year and the “Hope quilt” I did for Intueri to help her raise money for Multiple Sclerosis Society.  I ventured into word quilts after finding Lazy Gal Quilting blog.

Recently I bought her book (Word Play Quilts) and decided to make a block for her bah humbug quilt.  My way of thanking her.  Here is the block I made and sent to her:

Here is a close up of the “bug” part.

The activity spurred me to begin working on my next word play quilt which I have been thinking about since the eye words quilt.  This one will be for my dog’s veterinarians (a husband and wife practice).  I meant for it to be composed of only domestic animals but lost to fabric in my stash. 
I really love the dog block.
I have been surprised by the number of animals I have found in my fabrics. 
Anyway, this quilt is a work in progress.  Not sure yet on which animals will make it in but enjoying the work/play.

From the Bottom of My Heart

Updated 3/2017-- all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Listening to NPR Saturday morning, I caught part of Scott Simon interview of brothers Stephen Amidon and Thomas Amidon, M.D. discusses their book The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart.    The interview touched on the story of the human heart in science/medicine, history, and culture.

It turns out that the classic red heart symbol we see almost everywhere around Valentine's Day doesn't look much like a real human heart at all.

"Of all the theories about where that symbol comes from, my favorite is that it is a representation of a sixth century B.C. aphrodisiac from northern Africa," says Stephen Amidon,….. "And I kind of like that history because it sort of suggests that early on, people sort of understood the connection between love and the heart."

Words and how we use them were the focus of Dr. Pauline Chen interview by WIHI host Madge Kaplan this past Thursday, February 10th (H/T Paul Levy):  A Legible Prescription for Health 

On this edition of WIHI, Dr. Chen wants to spend some time talking about language, especially the words doctors use with one another when describing patients; the unintended barriers created the more doctors and nurses don protective, infection-protecting garb; the mounting weight of patient satisfaction surveys; and more.

Back to the NPR interview on the sublime engine: the human heart.  The authors do not feel that as our advances in surgical techniques become commonplace, that the heart will lose any of its cultural and metaphorical significance.

"One of the things that surprised me during the course of writing this book was how durable the heart's metaphorical power has been — not just in the past 50 years in the great explosion of cardiology, but in the past 500 years since the great anatomists of the Renaissance began opening up bodies and began looking at the physical heart," he says.

Even as all this was happening, the heart has retained its metaphorical power.

"So perhaps there will be a day when we no longer touch our chest and kind of nod, and people understand we're talking about qualities that can't be explained by medicine — we're talking about courage or devotion or inspiration," he says. "You can have a situation where someone receives an artificial heart, and afterward goes to their surgeon and says, 'I thank you for this from the bottom of my heart.' This will make complete sense to us."

On this Valentine’s Day, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for spending part of your day with me. 

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Highlight Health is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here.

Welcome to Grand Rounds: the Impact of Healthcare Reform.   For this edition of Grand Rounds, Vol. 7 No. 11, we’re focusing on the impact of healthcare reform: what are the changes to healthcare delivery, utilization, quality, costs (either as a provider or a patient) and outcomes. After all, these changes affect everyone, whether you’re a patient, a healthcare provider or a biomedical researcher.……..

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A beautiful love poem via twitter by  @otorhinolarydoc: An Otorhinolaryngological Love Poem - http://tl.gd/7a67bf

My ossicles shiver at the sound of your name
My cochlea swirls at the sound of your voice
I get symptomatic labyrynthitis when I see your beauty
And my world becomes vertiginous when you enter it

That’s the first verse, go read the rest.

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Wall Street Journal has an interesting article by Sue Shellenbarger:  Women Doctors Flock to Surprising Specialty.

People often assume women gravitate to certain professional fields because they have an innate liking for the work. Women become pediatricians because they love babies, for example, or they become veterinarians because they love animals.

So why are women flocking to colon and rectal surgery as an occupation of choice?  ………….

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From Shrink Rap comes a nice post by Dinah:  News Flash: Preauthorization Impacts Care

The American Medical Association had a press release on November 22nd and announced findings from their survey on the impact of insurance company preauthorization policies. Surprisingly, they discovered that these policies use physician time and delay treatment. It's funny, because preauthorization policies were designed to save money. And I imagine they do, for the insurer, but they cost money for everyone else. ………..

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Check out this nice video designed to teach basic suturing techniques to medical students:

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Wow, these are lovely but I don’t think my relatives would like to have their food served on them.  H/T Street Anatomy.  (photo credit). 

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A.Word.A.Day is having a contest.  Deadline for submissions is this Friday, December 10th. 

Have you come across a pleonasm somewhere? How about making up your own examples of pleonasm? Send us your pleonasms, whether homegrown or captured in the wild (include a picture, if possible). The best entry will receive a copy of the word game WildWords (courtesy WildWords Game Company) and a runner-up will receive a copy of the word game One Up! (courtesy Uppityshirts).

Would love to hear your examples of pleonasm with a medical twist or link.

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Isn’t this bag wonderful!  The pattern for this Noriko Handbag  is free from Lazy Girl  as her  “year-end gift to you.”   (photo credit)

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I’m hoping to attend with a couple of friends -- Arkansas Women Bloggers Meetup Scheduled! (photo credit)

When: December 11, 2010 11am-1pm

Where: Museum of Discovery @ 500 President Clinton Avenue

Why: Meet other bloggers and help decide future activities/goals for AWB

We will keep you updated with event details as we pull them together.

To RSVP, you can leave a comment on this post. If you're on Facebook, you can RSVP and invite friends at the event page. You can also RSVP by emailing us at arkansasbloggers@gmail.com.

Eye Words Quilt -- Work in Progress

My first word quilt was the “Hope quilt” I did for Intueri to make a quilt to help her raise money for Multiple Sclerosis Society.  I ventured into word quilts after finding Lazy Gal Quilting blog.  Earlier this summer, I began playing around with piecing words that have to do with the eye.  I would twitter photos as I made the word blocks.  Turned out to be fortuitous as I somehow (even being careful to check myself) misspelled ophthalmology.

MaryMillsRN caught the mistake and was kind enough to let me know.  It would have been horrible to have completed the quilt and then discovered the misspelling.

@rlbates Do you want me to tell you that ophthalmology is misspelled?

It is machine pieced and measures 50.5 in X 68 in.  I have basted it and am machine quilting it.

Here is a close view to see some of the fabrics and words.
Here is one of my 20/20 (vision).  I am happy with how it is turning out.

Adding to My Vocabulary

Updated 3/2017 --  all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

This past week I learned several new words and phrases.  Allow me to share a few with you.
Speed sag – I learned of this phrase from a tweet from @BAAPSMedia

Have just seen a cosmetic surgery press release about so-called "Speedo Sag"....Ew

My first thought was the same as my OR crew whom I polled.  We all thought it had to have something to do with the parts of the male anatomy which should be covered by the speedo such as perhaps the scrotum.  It doesn’t. 

I googled it to find out. It has to do with the male’s abdominal skin and fat which falls over the top of the speedo.   Apparently, they are looking for a male abdominoplasty.

Many of the men that want to get the Tummy Tuck, aka “Speedo sag” surgery, have lost weight or started a fitness plan and are looking for a surgery that can remove pockets of fat or loose flaps of skin from their stomach.

I would have called this the “spare tire” or the “dunlop” but not “speedo sag.” 

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The above phrase gave us some risible moments in the OR.

MEANING:
adjective:
1. Laughable; ludicrous.
2. Disposed to laugh.
3. Relating to laughter.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin risus, past participle of ridere (to laugh). Other words that share the same root are ridiculous, deride, rident, and riant.

It hit me as I was writing this that the facial muscle – risorius – who’s function is to retract the angle of the mouth to produce a smile has the same etymology.
And now I hope you will forgive me for the above  folderol as I wish you many risible moments today.

MEANING:
noun:
1. Nonsense; foolishness.
2. A trifle; gewgaw.
ETYMOLOGY:
From a nonsense refrain in some old songs. The word is also spelled as falderal.

Plastic Surgery ABC’s

A is for Abbe Flap, Abdominoplasty, Augmentation Mammoplasty
B is for Blepharoplasty, Breast Reconstruction, Burns
C is for Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, Chemical Peels, Cleft Lip Repair
D is for Decubitus Ulcer Care, Dermabrasion
E is for Estlander Flap, Extensor Tendon Surgery
F is for Facial Reconstruction, Fingertip Injuries, Flaps
G is for Grafts, Gorlin’s Syndrome, Gynecomastia
H is for Hand Surgery, Hemagiomas, Hemifacia Microsomia
I is for Implants, Inverted Nipple Correction
J is for Juvederm, Jessner’s Solution
K is for Keloids, Kraissel’s Lines, K-wires
L is for Langer’s Lines, Le Fort Fractures, Liposuction
M is for Madelung’s Deformity, Melanoma, Mastectomy
N is for Nail Bed Injuries, Nevus Excision, Neuromas
O is for Omphaloceles, Orbital Fractures, Otoplasty
P is for Poland’s Syndrome, Port-wine Stains, Ptosis
Q is for Q-switch Ruby Laser, Quadriga Syndrome
R is for Rhinoplasty, Rhomboid Flaps, Rhytidectomy
S is for Scalp Reconstruction, Scaphoid Fractures, Syndactyly
T is for Tendon Repair, Thyroglossal Duct Excision, TRAM Flaps
U is for Ulnar Nerve Repair, Umbilicoplasty
V is for Vaginal Reconstruction, V-Y Advancement Flaps
W is for Wound Care/Repair, W-plasty, Wydase
X  is for Xanthoma tuberosum, Xenografts
Y is for Yersinia (yes, I’m reaching here)
Z is for Z-plasty, Zygoma Fracture Repair

Anatomical ABC’s

A is for Abdomen, Aorta, Appendix

B is for Bones, Brain,  Breast

C is for Clavicle, Colon, Cornea

D is for Dermatomes, Diaphragm, Duodenum

E is for Ear, Epiglottis, Esophagus

F is for Face, Femur, Fibula

G is for Gallbladder, Ganglion, Glands

H is for Hand, Heart, Hip, Hyoid

I is for Ileum, Intestines, Iris

J is for Jaw, Joint, Jugular

K is for Kidney, Knee

L is for Ligament, Lip, Liver, Lung

M is for Mandible, Mouth, Muscles

N is for Nerves, Nipple, Nose

O is for Omentum, Orbit, Ovary

P is for Palate, Pancreas, Pelvis, Prostate

Q is for Quadriceps Muscle

R is for Radius, Rectum, Ribs

S is for Scalp, Spleen, Spine, Stomach

T is for Tendon, Thyroid, Tongue, Trachea

U is for Ulna, Umbilicus, Ureter, Uterus

V is for Vagina, Veins, Ventricle, Vertebra

W is for Wing (of sphenoid bone), Wrist

X  is for Xyphoid

Y is for Y-chromosome

Z is for Zygoma

Words to Live By

 Updated 3/2017-- all links removed as many are no longer active.

The following was the conclusion of an article I recently read on David Cheever in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (referenced below). I would like to share it. I think it applies to whatever field you choose to study, not just medicine.

"Although we may remember David Cheever as a surgical innovator, his character is more aptly revealed in the following passage from a lecture, delivered before the Harvard Medical School class of 1871, entitled “How to Study Medicine”21:

If you seek for wealth you have mistaken your avocation. There must be something more, and something higher. That something is a love of your profession; a passion for science for its own sake; a broad humanity, which covers all the sick with a mantle of charity. Never lose sight of that motive, for if it once takes flight, your profession is reduced to a trade, and there is absolutely nothing left. As long as you can keep alive the sacred flame of this early passion which first called you to embrace the medical
profession, so long shall you be warmed, sustained, upheld amid disappointment, unjust treatment or reverses."

Cheever's Double Operation: The First Le Fort I Osteotomy; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 121(4):1375-1381, April 2008; Halvorson, Eric G. M.D.; Mulliken, John B. M.D.

Druthers

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

What a nice word--druthers. It is a noun, pronounced DRUTH-uhrz. It is a contraction of "d rather" as in I would rather. And that is it's meaning -- one's own way; preference.

Every operating room I have ever worked in has "preference cards" for each surgeon. Very often for each procedure that surgeon does. The card covers the surgeon's glove size (and sometimes type, powderless, etc), preferred skin prep, drapes, patient position, etc. Often the music preference is included on the card. It includes a list of instruments and sutures/needles. It includes the "preferred" dressings for the surgical incision.

I druther have the patient's face prepped with Technicare Surgical Scrub than Betadine.
I druther have Adson's with teeth (fine) than Brown's forceps.
I druther have fine needle holders, smooth like Webster's.
I druther not use towel clamps, but like having them just in case.
I druther have 94.1 FM. You know, the station that my sister and niece won the New Zealand trip from.
I druther have no foley today. I think we'll be less than 3 hours and she's young.........
I druther have the suture in the room and not open it until we need it. We won't waste as much that way.
I druther patient's not have any postop nausea.
I druther have ........

Along theses lines, if there are any residents or fellows who read this blog I would encourage you to ask for copies of your "preferred" staff's preference lists for a few major and minor surgeries. It will be most helpful to you when you move out into your practice. The new hospital(s) will appreciate it as they get used to your routine. When I left my residency a wonderful scrub nurse did that for me. Back then the cards were hand-written, now most places should be able to print it out from their computers.