We went out to dinner at a really fun burger place just down the street. This has ornate burgers including fried bologna with coleslaw on your burger. And the best part is we are able to walk. Grandma B and Trudi stayed at the Roanoke hotel. This is the oldest building in Roanoke and it is beautiful. It is only a bridge and a block away. We didn't think 500 ft.² could hold four people and one dog but later we find out it truly does. It was really nice to see familiar faces! We didn't know how much we truly missed faces we knew. We had a blast with them exploring Roanoke on the roads and through the restaurants. Lots of great meals and good laughs. I even got to treat my first patient (grandma B) as she slid into home plate on the sidewalk. Hope the steri-strips provide minimal scarring! On sunday they were suppose to fly out but due to mechanical problems they were able to stay with us one more night. And yes...we all fit in 500 square feet.
Monday was Epic training again. This is a very smart and fantastic computer program that is suppose to make charting easy. In the ED, they have "scribes" who are real humans who's job is to do the charting for the practitioners. I guess this helps you get your charting done much faster. Tuesday was lecture from 8-5...whoowh hadn't done that in a while. We first met with 2 ED nurses who gave us the "lay of the land." They warned us to be nice to nurses as they can throw us under the bus or help us out. I truly feel they scared the other two fellows. Later I found out we get to spend 2 days learning what ED nurses do. Hahahah! My program director said, "Alissa I know you were and ED nurse but it may give you a different perspective." I said, "yeah I will show them the Alissa-way to do everything." He said, "Oh God." As he knows no ED nurse likes to be told how or what to do and I will be the first one to tell you that. The ED has a 2 or 3 patient per nurse ratio pod in groups of 3 pods. Each group has a paramedic and a tech. And yes...techs can transfer telemetry patients to the floor. This is mind-blowing....not all EDs have 4 patient pods. The paramedics do all neuro checks, IVs, and triages. Nurses pass meds and do assessments. Seems pretty organized. Following the nurses lecture we had 8 other doctors come and give lectures. It was great and you learn so much from their great cases. A pediatrician told us about last month how she had a "not acting right" two month old with mild abdominal tenderness. Turned out she had and ovarian torsion. WOW! Never would have put that on my differential for a 2-month old. We learned what to say to patients, how to be nice, all being important in not getting sued.
Wednesday I was sent home early in preparation for the storm. Mat read in the newspaper that it was crucial to go get our eggs, milk, and bread. So we did this at 1 PM on Wednesday just to follow suit. We thought this was some crazy idea and the snow wasn't going to scare us. By 5 PM that day almost all grocery stores in Roanoke Virginia where out of milk and bread. I can now say you know you live in the south when they announce overhead "y'all come and get your meat now down here." Couldn't have heard anything funnier. That night we got about 11 inches of snow. I got a call from my fellowship director that I do not have to come in on Thursday due to this devastating snowstorm. Mat and I took a walk around town on Wednesday evening and everything was shut down. We enjoyed watching the man ride his moped in a few inches of snow down the street. Guess he didn't see the warning for the last three days that there was going to be this devastating snow storm. Nothing was open downtown and a busy street was now bare. Southern folks truly take this white stuff seriously. Thursday we got 8 inches for a grand total of 19 inches before 3pm and another call that I did not have to come in on friday due to this large amount of snow. 5 day weekend here we come!!! Thursday night Mat and I really didn't have much good food for dinner and all grocery stores were still closed. So we went to a local burger joint downtown that was jam packed with everyone else who didn't go to the grocery store. The burgers are crazy. I had nachos in-between my burger. Amazing!
So basically to end all Mat and I have been locked up in 500 square feet for the last 3 days. I think it is more like 400 square feet now. Things just started opening up today as people started to un-bury their cars. I do have to admit this is an unbelievable amount of snow for this area whom is not equipped to handle it. We have enjoyed walking around the piles in town wishing we would have packed some sleds, or even some boots!
Hope y'all have a great weekend. Some fun pictures to follow.
Love all the pics Alissa! Thanks for keeping us posted. We really miss you.
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