Doing our part

Democratic primaries were held around the country in the past week, and Diana and I were part of the most convincing wins for Barak Obama.

I caucused here in Boise. As you may know, there aren't that many Democrats in Idaho, so to save money, there is only one caucus per county in Idaho. Two things were especially notable this year:

• Barack Obama was the first major presidential candidate to visit Idaho in over 20 years. 14000 people gathered to hear him speak at 9 am on a Sat morning (unfortunately, I was on call at the hospital).
  
• the Ada County caucus (which includes Boise), was the largest Democratic caucus in the U.S. About 8500 people showed up to wait in the cold in lines that meandered around downtown Boise.
  
• for the first time in over 20 years, each of Idaho's 44 counties held a Democratic caucus.

Inside the Ada County caucus, it was overwhelmingly for Obama. As we were waiting for the initial vote count, I looked over at the Hillary Clinton supporters and I doubted that they would have 15%. They didn't. This means that the only viable candidate in Ada County was Barak Obama. In fact, only one county in the whole state went for Hillary Clinton.

In Washington, where the caucuses were held four days later, Barack Obama also won overwhelmingly. In fact, not a single precinct in the whole state went for Hillary Clinton. So essentially, Diana and I led the two most dramatic victories for Obama.

I think what this clearly shows is how unpopular Hillary Clinton is in the rural west (possibly even the west in general), combined with how excited voters are about Obama. Still, the race isn't over and I cringe thinking about the potential role of superdelegates and the delegates in Florida and Michigan. Hopefully the race won't come down to that.

Surgery update

Today was one of the busier days I've had on surgery at the Boise VA. It started - of course - with a hernia repair, and then we had an emergency surgery for someone who had a rapidly bleeding gastric ulcer (he could have bled to death without surgery), and then we removed someone's gallbladder. Surgery can be interesting, but in general, I actually find it a little boring, at least from my perspective. Much of the time is spent figuring out what you're looking at (I assume this isn't the case for experience surgeons), and it is usually tedious and slow. Still, I'm learning useful skills: my sewing skills are rapidly improving and it's helpful to know about what cases are surgical emergencies.

In other Boise news, I did some great backcountry skiing last weekend near my parent's cabin. I continue to be spoiled by my and Diana's family. And believe it or not, Barack Obama is actually coming to Boise this Saturday.

On Obama v. Clinton

Two recent editorials on the Democratic primary address the heated race between Obama and Clinton. Check out this Nicholas Kristof article in the New York Times on experience as a quality in presidential candidates. Also worthwhile is a piece from the Wallstreet Journal editorial board about Clintonian campaign tactics.

For full disclosure, I'm an Obama supporter, and I highly recommend his book, "The Audacity of Hope" in which he discusses his take on politics and the issues facing America. He describes a post-Bush/Clinton era in which the squabbles of the past 40 years are consolidated and the issues are reconsidered and reframed. I think he would truly represent a giant leap forward in the progress of American politics, but that's just my opinion. . .

Doctoring in God's country, one surgery at at time

Here it is 2008, and I'm finally posting again, and resolving to do so with greater frequency.  Keep me to that, would you?

I've finished my Internal Medicine rotation and now I'm on my Surgery rotation at the Boise, VA  That's right, I'm living in Idaho again, while Diana remains in Seattle, bringing home the bacon, keeping the building from burning down, and dealing with the kooky owner.  

I live in the house my parents just bought but haven't moved into yet, about a 10 minute walk from the VA.  I seem to have reverted to my JVC lifestyle: no tv, no internet, no car.  I walk or run most places I need to go.  The other day I lost my cell phone and I felt like I was in the middle of a vast wilderness in the middle of downtown Boise, with no way to call anyone, no way to get anywhere useful (try to find a payphone these days), and with only my ipod to tell me what time it was.  Oh yeah, the ipod . . . I guess I'm not such a monk after all.  Did I mention that I haven't had to cook dinner since I've been here?

As for the surgery aspect of life, so far it's been good, but it's mostly an attempt not to screw up.  The key is not to touch or bump into anything non-sterile, not to get in anyone's way, not to ask dumb questions, not to not know the answers to the questions that you are asked.  I'm beginning to think that the greatest joy in the life of a surgical nurse is watching medical students make stupid mistakes in the OR, and then making wisecracks for the rest of the day.

Thus far, I've seen several hernia operations and a prostatectomy (prostate removal).  Tomorrow I'll see a below the knee amputation.  So far my role is limited to answering questions, holding/maneuvering the laparoscopic camera (the camera they put inside the body for some operations), and basic suturing.  Because there are no residents (which would NOT be the case if I were in Seattle), it's often just me, the surgeon, and the scrub nurse who are scrubbed in and participating in the surgery itself.  

I always say I'll post again soon, but I make no promises this time, despite my resolution.  Stay tuned.