Back in the saddle

I was wrong; it wasn't the hard drive (although the computer geek thought so at first too...and sold me a new one) and the root of the problem wasn't the 'bad' strip of RAM (bought one of those too). It was the mother board/CPU. So the old PC is toast and I have a new shiny PC under the desk. I'm having real problems using email but everything else seems to be functioning just fine. I have to say that the folks at Computer Central in Westbank were really nice and they were kind enough to refund everything that I had spent during the diagnostic process and put it toward the new machine. They (thank goodness!) managed to get all my files, images, contacts, etc. off of the old hard drive and copied them over to the new. What a relief!

You're probably pretty tired of looking at the image of the ectopic pancreas so I thought the first thing I ought to do is change it. In its place are 2 shots of a gastric lesion which has an hemorrhagic, ulcerated surface. On cut surface, it is solid, firm, moderately hemorrhagic and extends through the full thickness of the wall to within less than 0.1 cm of the serosa. Microscopy (much like an image which I posted last year) is consistent with a gastro-intestinal stromal tumour. The difference with this mass is that it is somewhat better circumscribed and may be less likely to metastasize.

It's beginning to look like I'll be training, with the pathologists' assistance, a new PA for the Interior. This should happen some time within the next 2 months (the sooner, the better). I have been trying for some time to source a replacement for one of our PAs who resigned within the last few months. With about 20,000 surgical pathology cases at Kelowna General Hospital, the two remaining PAs (including myself) have certainly been kept out of mischief (and that's a very good thing!).

I should report a most pleasant development. I have made inroads into assisting with the autopsy service recently. I had cut a brain or two from time to time but hadn't been involved in the case from the start (clinical history, all of the dissection, reporting, etc.) until now. I know that many of you will have a hard time believing that insofar as you are responsible for ALL of the duties surrounding autopsies save for the micro sign-out; and it has been this way since you were hired. It has been a long, slow process to break in to the autopsy service here in Kelowna and there's a long way to go. There are very few cases. The PAs have been kept very busy dealing with the grossing of surgical pathology specimens. The pathologists can't be expected to simply take me at my word (that I have some experience in autopsies); I have to prove myself all over again. This isn't all bad; in fact, I consider it yet another challenge that I am more than willing to take on. As always, I wish there was a way to convince the clinicians to ask for more autopsy consents. The autopsy is too good a teaching tool for PAs and Residents to let it fade into nothingness.

On a personal note, I have taken up bicycling in a moderately big way. I bought a new lighter bike and am riding to work every day. I haven't been run over yet (although I have had several near-misses). I have certainly learned how to change a flat tire (the shoulders are strewn with lots and lots of broken glass). My legs, if I ignore the pulled muscle on the right side, are gradually getting stronger and the hills are [VERY gradually] getting smaller and smaller. If I can keep a semblance of muscle tone over the winter, I'll likely be re-gearing in the spring (so that I can go FAST!).

I'm still enjoying kayaking on Lake Okanagan. I have yet to sell my Ottawa house and have therefore not yet purchased an abode in Kelowna (wanna buy a house?!).

That's enough for now. I'll comment on developments with the PA Section of the CAP (for those of you who are not members -- and therefore did not receive the recent communique) next time.

Now I have to see if I can remember how to post these images! Wish me luck.