Labels are for Jars

In medicine, we're taught not to make stereotyped assumptions about what "kind" of people fit specific diseases. I've always thought myself to be relatively free of these stereotypes and had an eye opening experience with a patient I met last week. She was a little old lady, and with her broken English, my classmate and I were able to deduce that she had been hospitalized a few times due to "weakness". Over the course of an hour, it came out that over her lifetime, she had had a heart attack, breast cancer, and parathyroid surgery, none of which she mentioned straight out. She didn't know the name of the medications she was on, but handed me her list to copy down. I immediately recognized the anti-hypertensives and hyperlipidemia agents but came to a sudden halt when I saw "3TC". I didn't ask the patient about it, but simply wrote it down and underlined it several times. When we returned to present the cases to our tutor, I had to ask, "isn't 3TC an HIV medication?" Indeed, my little old lady was HIV positive, and whether due to stigma or language barriers, had chosen not to share this information with me. We inferred that she probably contracted it via a blood transfusion many years ago and had been fortunate enough not to progress to full blown AIDS.

Surprised with just how shocked I was, the lesson learned is likely to stick with me for some time to come.

Why I LOVE Living Downtown

While on my way to the gym this morning, I stumbled upon a free outdoor Barenaked Ladies concert about to begin. I wandered over and found myself literally 10ft from the stage. My ears got to enjoy two of their new songs as well as four of their classics, including "Brian Wilson" and "Old Apartment". Never having heard them live in concert before, I was one happy girl.


ps- apologies for the lack of recent posting, for the time being I don't have internet at home.