I am a medical conumdrum

The first year medical students have spent the year working on learning the practical aspects of being a physician. Every doctor has to know how to give basic examinations, such as taking a medical history, cardio-pulmonary or neurological just to name a few. To test what they have learned, UCSF sets up mock-clinical exams for the first year students. So, last Thursday, yesterday and tomorrow, I have and will spend four hours in the afternoon being prodded, poked and touched by first year medical students. I was selected because my friend H. Carrie Chen runs this first year class and knows my medical history and thought I would be interesting for the students to examine because they end up finding things that throw them for a loop.

The first years perform a musco-skeletal exam on me in front of a teaching doctor who evaluates them. As they perform the exam, they are palpating (touching and feeling) the bones, joings and ligaments along my shoulders, back and knee all while asking me if I have any pain. In addition, they ask me to do range of motion exercises as well. I am wearing a hospital gown as we do it, but during some portions the exam, I take it off.

One of the last parts of the exam, is to test for reflexes in the knee and ankle, which I have learned tests for spinal cord function in the L4-L5-S1 area. This is where things get interesting. As they hammer at my knee, nothing happens. It totally throws them for a loop because everything else has been going so well up to that point. After five or six whacks at my knee, the doctor or I will tell them that they are doing it correctly and that I have dimishished reflexes in both areas, bilaterally.

When the exam is done, the doctor, student and I sit and talk about techniques they could have used or if they tried to inspect something in the wrong place. For example the students always miss the biceps tendon. When they say they've found it, I am looking at them knowing that they've TOTALLY FAKED it when they said they found it. But what the doctor asks them to do is to make any other observations about me. What the doctor is trying to get them to do is ask about the huge scar on my left side. Only 25% of the first years even ask about it and if they do, I am allowed then to tell them the story of my accident. Once all that is on the table, the first years have a context for the lack of reflexes because my spinal fusion is at L1-L2-L3 and my reflexes are controlled by the spinal cord below my surgery. The moral of the story for first year doctors? If you look and ask, you may have the answer given to you.

Summer Break and taking one for the team

The Monday morning after graduation is when the final faculty meeting occurs. We say good-bye to those who are retiring or leaving the school. Faculty recognition awards and chairs are presented to those teachers who have served in an extraordinary capacity and the following years committee assignments are revealed. In the past, I have served a two-year elected stint on the professional development committee, one year of two-years on the faculty compensation committee and three or four years on the admissions committee. In addition, when I was serving as department chair, I served on the curriculum committee and department council. Next year, however, I am chairing the Annual Fair. For many years, it was headed by my wonderful colleague Mr. Chu, who left this past year for greener pastures. To give you an idea as to how much of a headache bring the point person for the fair is, I have been relieved of EVERY OTHER outside of classroom duty. All I have to do is the Annual Fair.

So, what is this Annual Fair? The fair takes place on the evening of third Friday of October. The clubs and groups of the Middle and Upper Schools organize booths and games for our Lower Schoolers (K-5). In talking with some of my students who were at one time Lower Schoolers themselves, they remember the Annual Fair being one of those things they greatly looked forward to. What's in it for the older students? Ahhh, you see, the fair operates on little red tickets. Lower School parents purchase both an entrance fee to the fair as well as wads of little red tickets. Every red ticket collected by a booth or game represents money in the operating budget of a groups account. So, months of September and October will be all Fair, all the time.

As I left school Monday afternoon, I felt my annual tinge of sadness at the school year being over. As a kid, I was that kid who cried when school was over in June because I loved school and I always found summer kind of boring. I still feel that now, but at least now summers are usually filled with things to do. So, stay tuned for some of my summer adventures. Can it be a year already that this blog has been in existence? The genesis of this blog was to provide family and friends to keep track of me during last years cross-country road trip, but now has taken on a life of its own.

A week in the life

Since I last wrote

•Get a haircut
•Attend faculty retirement party
•Go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's (a task made much more tolerable with Scott)
•Proctor the Extended Time Testing Final for History Department
•Get Subaru's oil changed
•Proctor Math Finals
•Grade Math Finals (2 pages of 50 Honors Geometry and all 35 Geometry)
•Calculate, determine and submit Spring Semester and Year grades
•Attend Senior Project Presentation Evening
•The Congressional Quarterly's 2006 Guide to Congress arrives
•Little sleep as Ernie now knows Gwen Moore (D-WIS) is a new congresswoman
•Fly to Seattle
•See all the nurses and Dr. B in the Foot and Ankle Clinic at Harborview
•Dr. B and Dr. Schuberth (Kaiser's Foot and Ankle specialist and is former president of the Association of Foot and Angle Surgeon's) talk, Schuberth agrees to work on allowing Kaiser to allow me out of network surgery
•One hour later, word comes that Kaiser denies out of network surgery
•Fly back to Bay Area
•Have first misunderstanding with Scott (the Ernie Operating Manual is more complicated than first thought)
•Find out from Dr. Schuberth's nurse that she is filing paperwork and so there still is hope for out of network surgery
•Serve as model patient for 1st year UCSF Medical students (musco-skeletal exam)
•Say goodbye to two colleagues at a dinner
•Gather further evidence that the Math Department is weird
•Attend graduation rehearsal
•Get confronted by Shahana about my crappy treatment of her and discover that the issues come down to ones of boundaries (S, if you're reading this did I cross one by posting here?)
•Final Math Department meeting of the year
•Order Dad the most PERFECT Father's Day Gift
•Attend advisees graduation party
•Get up at 5AM to set up mile markers (and directional arrows) 5 through 18 for Scott's training group's 23 mile run
•Attend graduation and well up with tears for the first time EVER
•Take a breather and write this posting......

What was that all about?

I was up early today because Scott had to set up the course for the marathoners he is training. So I made breakfast and sat down with Sports Illustrated (I read it every week cover to cover, it's a true weekly pleasure) and came across the fact that Johns Hopkins beat Duke this year to win the Collegiate Lacrosse Championship. The strange thing was, I ACTUALLY felt a pang of nostalgia and sentiment for Hopkins. It was fleeting, granted, but what does it mean that I actually felt something for my graduate school? Maybe there is a slow thawing of my anitpathy for that time in my life. Whatever it is, doesn't mean I'm giving them money anytime soon.

Art's Crab Shak

There is NOT a misspelling in the title of this post. Met college friend Hans for dinner tonight, it's been a while since we've gotten together. He and Teresa recently moved from Berkeley to the wild streets of Oakland. He and I walked four blocks to 40th and Broadway (a stones throw from the Oakland Kaiser Hospital in which I had my first surgery after my infamous accident) to eat at Art's Crab Shak. The place looks like it has been stuck in time since the 1960's. And truth be told, it has. The house specialty is garlic crab and it's amazingly good. Much of my enjoyment of the crab can probably be attributed to the inch thick pool of melted butter at the bottom of the plate that Hans and I shared. All you who live in the East Bay, it's well worth checking out. The Shak is at 4031 Broadway (at 40th). Tell them Ernie sent you.

In case you didn't know yet

I give this marriage six months, tops!

Off the grid

Gary D., a former rowing buddy, is a person that in the craziness of life that I lost touch with, until today. Before I lost touch with him, there was mention of purchasing a home that was off the grid in Sonoma county, a place where he could work and live away from the hectic life in Berkeley. Note the words "off the grid" which I took to be "a little out of the way".

Car batteries to store excess generated solar power

Off the grid really meant off the PG&E power grid. In a complicated buying scenario, Gary now lives in a house that was once owned and occupied by a "kooky woman" (Gary's words) that built a self-sustaining home. Gary now is "on the grid".

Thomas (an ex of Gary's), Thomas' current boyfriend Y (pronounced "E"), Scott (you all know who he is) and I caravaned up to Gary's too have what was advertised as a "country brunch". Let's say, hmm, it was more than country and less than brunch. In all seriousness, Gary had contractors over doing work and so we went out to brunch.

A view of Gary's home and it's view

Gary D.

We drove to the lovely little town of Occidental to have brunch at a cafe called The Naked Lady Cafe.

Thomas, Y and Gary post brunch

So, the most shocking moment of the day occurred on the drive home when a car reached a four way stop intersection with no cars anywhere in sight and came to a full and complete unprovked stop. This, in California no less. The timing of this incident was particularly bad due to my almond sized bladder.

We have a winner!!!!!!!

Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog will understand the the joy and vindication when I saw the following in my mail. After seeing two friends of mine get married (well the ceremony was formality due to the fact they eloped last summer) an hour later than scheduled.

Justice is served when one follows the legal system and works within it in a courteous and professional manner. NAH NAH NAH NAH Subaru of America

More like Mom every day

This post should make Mom happy. Everyone reading this give a shout out to Ernie's Mom!!! Anyway, I had friends Tim and J'Tao over for dinner last night. I was planning on meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but for some reason my oven is on not working correctly again and emits gas as it heats up. My garbage disposal is also not working but that's irrelevant the story at hand. Doing a bit of improvising, I end up heating up some of these spinich quiches for appetizers and for dinner I cooked Trader Joe's Mandarin Chicken (you all need to try it, it's great) with some green beans and steamed rice. But for dessert? I pulled ouot watermelon, strawberries and grapes. Fruit for dessert? My mom was pulling this stunt for years saying how fruit is the best dessert and I always wanted something with artificial sugars. Well, at 35 years old, here I am, serving fruit for dessert and LOVING it.

Punt

I have to say that Kaiser Permanente has been quite impressive of late. I have registered to have my prescriptions filled online and sent to school. Ch-ching. But since I last wrote, much has happened in the hardware removal storyline.

On Monday 5/23/05, I called the Dept. of Orthopedics and left a message in two places for Dr. Gorek to either see me or to figure out how to get a referral for Dr. B to do the removal. At 2PM that afternoon, I got a message from one of the nurses saying that I should expect a call later from Dr. Gorek's assistant. The assistant's call came this morning (5/24/05) at 10:30AM stating that Dr. Tang, my PCP, be the one to deal with finding someone within Kaiser or refer me out. Dr. Gorek punted due to the fact that he's a spine surgeon, not and orthopedic surgeon.

I called Dr. Tang to relay the message to him after I called Dr. Gorek's office asking his office to send an official message to Dr. Tang. This all occurred around 3:30PM this afternoon.

At 6PM this evening, Dr. Tang calls and tells me he has referred me to see an Orthopedic Surgeon within Kaiser San Francisco and I should receive a call from them in day or so.

All this in less than 36 hours. Amazing. More posts to come in this ongoing saga.

I consider my self a political moderate....

but this is over the line.

In my mailbox Tuesday 5/24/05

I have to wonder how and what mailing I got myself onto.

Why I get up in the morning...

Things between Scott and I go well. A good sign is that we split nights at each others houses. We live a mere 8 minutes and one stop light apart since I discovered a cool backway to each other's homes. Anyway, on his counter sits a juicer, not a blender, but a juicer. Since I've been taught how to use it (as well as take it apart and clean it) every morning when I get up from his house, my first thought is "JUICER". I love the fact that this spinning blade/sieve type thing can extract juice from fruits and vegetables and all that is left over is shredded organic bits. Todays morning mix was grapefruit, orange, kiwi, apple and carrots.

Morning Motivation

Setting off metal detectors at the airport

An x-ray of my right heel after surgery and the way it is currently

I won't rehash the details of my accident of August 2002, but the most difficult and longest recovery was from the essential destruction of my calcanei (the heel bone) in both of my feet. Pictured above is the "erector set" of plates, pins and screws that Dr. Stephen Benirschke constructed in both of my feet in order for them to heal properly and eventually allow the joints around the shattered bone to function as "normally" as possible. As witnessed by my only slightly impaired mobility today, Dr. B's work was of the highest order.

The metal is serving no purpose and Dr. B suggested that I schedule a day surgery with him to have the hardware removed. I would need to avoid putting the weight of my body on the foot for the five days following surgery. I have scheduled to have Dr. B perform the surgery to occur on June 23rd, 2005.

All great plans must at some point go awry. I got a call from Dr. B's billing clerk and she said that she would need to have Kaiser (my HMO) to sent a letter to Dr. B's office in Seattle stating that they approve of my having this operation outside of the Kaiser network. The very nice woman in Dr. B's office named Emmy, told me that I would need to contact my primary care physician, Dr. Tang, to start the paperwork in motion by contacting Kaiser San Francisco's outside services office. When Emmy told me the name of the woman handling my case, I knew I was going to be for a tough battle. This woman, who shall remain nameless as I have learned that naming names when not talking about them nicely does get one in trouble in some unforeseen way, was the 800 pound gorilla that stood in my way of being released from Kaiser into the care of the doctors in Seattle back in 2002. Let's just say the word "NO" doesn't cause her any pain or guilt to say.

So this morning, I headed over to see Dr. Tang to get the ball rolling. Even though I didn't actually get anything rolling due to the fact that Dr. Tang isn't himself an orthopedic specialist and therefore wouldn't hold any sway in the decision making process. However, he did suggest that the person who may be able to make a decision and have that decision carry weight with outside services be the attending physician during my stay in Oakland, are you ready for this blast from the past, Dr. Josef Gorek. Dr. Gorek performed the initial surgery to fuse the L2,L3 and L4 vertabrae in my back. The scar I have from that surgery is still a sight to behold here on the left side of my body. Anyway, Dr. Tang said that since it was Dr. Gorek and his group that released me from Kaiser's network to the more experienced and specialized surgeons that I needed to see who were in Seattle at Harborview Medical Center.

Since Dr. Gorek is himself an orthopedic surgeon, and the surgery to remove hardware from my feet would be classified as an orthopedic surgery, it would be up to him to decide whether or not a surgeon in the Kaiser network can do the surgery or whether or not it is in my best interest (and note I'm going to get him not to say in Kaiser's best interset) to have Dr. B, the surgeon who inserted the metal, to do the removal.

I tried calling Dr. Gorek today, but the Oakland Kaiser Facility's Department of Orthopedic Surgery is closed Friday. I will call Monday and leave a message with Dr. Gorek. I don't think he has thought of me since my final checkup with him back in August 2003.

Lastly, because it would be Dr. Gorek making the call to send me out of network, I would work through the Oakland Kaiser's outside services office and avoid dealing with "the woman" altogether. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

No news yet about the ruling on my claim against Subaru.

Sorry for the radio silence

I'm baaaaccckkkk!!! Due to various circumstances, I had to be mute for a couple weeks, but that doesn't mean I have been a hermit either. Since we last met, I've participated in a focus group about a new venture. I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you. Seriously though, I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to participate and earn the $75 for two hours of feedback I gave them. I am going to end this by saying I was thoroughly uninterested in the product and one that I would never use. I hope they found valued my genuine boredom.

I organized a group of people to go out to dinner on the night of Dining Out for Life. On this night, partcipating restaurants donate up to 25% of their nightly take to the Stop Aids project. Our group which had a mix of my friends and Scott's friends dined at Moki's right here in my neighboorhood of Bernal Heights.

Scott made his HRS debut by attending the school musical Cabaret. Shahana grilled him. What else did I expect? Scott has also met Senator Kefauver. She gave him the thumbs up to. Her email was "keep him." And to the Senator, according to DrDr Brakeman, if you screw it up with the guy your dating now, "you're an idiot." Enough said.

I had my day in Small Claims court in my case against Subaru of America. A representative from Subaru didn't show so I had a one-on-one with the judge and at first it was looking like she was going to throw the case out due to the issue of venue. This meant that she couldn't determine the presence of a contract between me and Subaru of America. After I explained to her my story, she asked for my exhibits and then asked me more questions about it. When we were finished, the judge said that she would need to go and do more research on the laws in my case and then I would receive a judgement by mail. Since I was suing for $5,000 (out of the $6,000 in repairs, labor and expenses) I would either get a negative judgement (no money), a full judgement (all the money) or somewhere in between. So what were the issues at hand? First of all, she needed to determine the issue of venue again, and if I win on the venue issue, the next thing to determine is whether or not Subaru is to be held to the "Replacement Parts and Accessories Warranty". This is what I believe to be the breach of contract. CK and I found this provision right on the Subaru.com website. Here it is (make sure you scroll to halfway down the page), the warranty.

Scott and I attended the return of Gay Bingo. It's not what it used to be without Sister Betty.

Scott and I went to play Texas Hold 'Em at the Sarkar/Kadlic's. I cleaned up.

My friend from high school Kristin S, her husband Jeff, and their six week old baby were in the East Bay for the wedding of one of Kristin's college friends. It was great to have a quick lunch with them.

I called my Mom for mother's day. And on the actual day, Mom, my sister and my Grandmother flew to Taipei. My grandmother was so excited to go and visit her friends to be in a place where she feels comfortable. She was even willing to forego watching the Mariners, who suck this year, by the way.

And that's a summary of my life since the last post. And next on Chen's life.....The Prom.

By the way, I hope that you all noticed that S&M has been revealed to have a real name.

Let me use my "I" statements

All of us who graduated from high school/college/graduate school are by default, alums of those institutions. I attended and graduated from The Lakeside School in Seattle, WA. Class of 1988, thank you. So today, there was a Bay Area gathering of alums held at The University Club in San Francisco. The address, 800 Powell, should have given me enough warning to stay away. Why is it that I feel that I am never going to enjoy these events. Against my typical anal retentiveness, I showed up 20 minutes late, which is the outer parts of the margin or error for me. I walk into this stately ballroom and there is no one (out of about a dozen) there that I know or even recognize. I lounged around the food, looked at the spectacular view, glanced at some of the Lakeside literature and talked to the Director of Planned Giving for a couple of minutes. Then, the Director of Alumni Affairs was free, she is someone I know as she was a year younger than me, and after the typical small talk, there was the awkward silence. She broke it by telling me that she saw a bunch of my classmates, you know the ones who always hung out together and lived in the same wealthy neighboorhoods and belonged to the Seattle Tennis Club, that morning at a breakfast held by one of my 1988 classmates. That took me RIGHT back to being 16 and feeling that I was always left out. I know that I should be proud of my life and what I've done and to be happy with who I am, but to hear the names of those classmates of mine in that context once again made me feel inferior. At the time, I didn't understand the feelings, just that I had to get out of there and fast. I know that the unresolved issues of high school are complete and utter BS. There is NO ONE to blame except me and I'm sure all the breakfast eaters are perfectly nice people now that they are 35 as well. I need to suck it up and let it go.

I see those friends of mine from high school and college, the people near and dear to my heart. So, a vow. I will give money to the institutions that I hold so dear, but alumni functions, for the time being, are out of the question.

You know the Apocalpyse is coming when

ummm, yeah, read here.

From Bayview/Hunters Point to The Muir Woods

These two geographic locations were the places I landed Saturday night and Sunday morning respectively. On Saturday night, Hans, his friend Nina and I went to a fundraiser for Public Glass which is a hot glass facility run by a small group of dedicated artists. For a $20 donation, you got a free glass, free beer, a band, some belly dancers and some demonstration glass blowing. It was really a cool experience but I truly felt I was back in college in a fraternity party. What was of particular interest/apprehension about attending this event was the fact that it is located a mere half mile from Candlestick Park, thereby placing it in the southeastern quadrant of the city, Bayview/Hunter's Point, which you are told to never go to at night. It's as if that knowledge is imparted to every incoming resident of San Francisco. But, as was to be expected, the journey to and back was uneventful.

Ernie, Nina and Hans with our new favorite drinking vessels

The selection of complimentary glasses

On Sunday morning (4/17/05), S&M, his mother Mrs. Weller and I took a journey over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County (Yes, I did get my visa and passport all squared away :)) to make a visit to the Muir Woods. Here are some pictures:

So as a tease, here is a picture of S&M's mother. The family resemblence is a strong one, but alas, still no official picture of S&M.




S&M's Mother hails from Athens, GA

S&M's mother leaves on Tuesday to return to Georgia. Safe travels!

Documentation

Every new teacher to Head-Royce is assigned a mentor. I was asked to be a mentor this year and my mentee is Sonia G. Because Sonia is a veteran teacher (Northwest School in Seattle), I've actually had very little to do in this role. I also served as a mentor to a long term substitute Spanish teacher last year, when Senora Galligan went on maternity leave. Every mentor is given $50 to spend on some social activity with their mentee. Last year, I pocketed the cash and then never actually used it. Oops.
This year, Sonia and I were talking about getting a pair of mani/pedi treatments with the money. However, things fell through and it never happened. In January, I made one of my grand sweeping statements about my disdain for modern art and she said shockingly in her very cool British accent, "WHHAATTTT?". The next thing I knew, I spent $85 on a dual membership to SFMOMA. Here is proof:

Chen and Gomez 4/16/05

What about the art? Umm, I looked at it.

The Mother-in-law

Even though S&M and I have recently started dating, it just so happened that his mother had already planned a trip from her home in Athens, GA to visit her one and only son. The implications? It meant that I had dinner with S&M, his mother and his cousin who also lives in San Francisco. Me, being the charming, witty and scintillating dinner guest was well received by S&M's mother. It helps the cause when she is, herself, loud and full of life. Oh, and by the way, to all you single straight women reading this, S&M's cousin is a single straight male. In San Francisco? This breed of male is almost extinct!

I'm being stalked....

.....by the mother of one of my students. Well, stalked has the wrong connotations. How about, admirer. In my ten years of teaching, I have seen the spectrum of students and have a good sense of when a student has something about them that is seriously out of whack. However, I have some to realize that there are some parents out there who have one child and that child is their sample size. So this mother, has a son, who she adores, but has no idea whether or not what he says or does is within the realm of normal. Therefore, I occasionally get calls from her on my voicemail asking me to check in with her to give her feedback on what her son is doing. I'll say that her son is a great kid and as a 9th grade boy, being monosyllabic to one's mother is completely in the realm of normal. In fact, I told the mother that if he told her everything going on in his head and life, he would be abnormal. What is abnormal, however, is the fact that about once every two weeks, I get a Hallmark greeting card to the affect of "just for you" and the like. I won't mention the Valentine's Day greeting I got, however.