From My Frontal Lobe

10 years

At first, 10 years seems like a really long time. I remember 10 years ago when I was graduating from high school. I thought that 10 years looked so far away.

Ten years has gone by extremely fast. My ten year high school reunion is this weekend. So many faces that I have not seen or spoken to since graduation day. 

As I look ahead, I realize that in 10 years I will be 38. It doesn’t seem like a really long time anymore. It’s almost a bit daunting because I know that I’ll blink and be there.

I have no idea what my life will be like after the blink. But I do have some picture of what I’d like it to be. 

I guess I’m at the stage in life where I’m in my late 20s and starting to wonder — starting to freak out.

It’s easy to think about the future in high school or even in undergrad. At least it was for me. I knew the next decade would be spent preparing for a career. It was solid, tangible, and planned out. But now, I think about the future and feel like I stare into a cloudy mist, with only glimpses of what could be ahead in the distance. But the road to get there — Well, I just cannot see the twists and turns of the pathway before me. 

I guess I have always had the security of knowing what path I needed to be on to get to this point. It didn’t go exactly as planned, but I still knew the general direction.

Ten years just doesn’t seem so far away anymore.

Breakfast

Just saw some guy walk by me in the hospital cafeteria with a bowl of oatmeal and fruit. I was proud to see it.

Then he topped it off with a maple bar donut. Doh!

But pot calling the kettle, here.

Not like my breakfast was anything to write my fitness coach about…

Alkaline Water

Some guy just tried to convince me to buy alkaline water. I politely declined.

He asked what he could do to gain my business. And I asked him for the papers regarding alkaline water. 

“Funny thing,” he started, “I just gave out my last flyer.”

I corrected him. I didn’t want a flyer. I asked him for peer-reviewed literature in the medical journals regarding alkaline water. He answered yes there was literature but suggested I go to the company’s website for an explanation of the benefits of alkaline water.

And I told him I have no problem reading the actual journal articles. After all, I do it all the time.

“Are you a doctor?” he asks.

“Yup,” I answer with nod. 

At which point the conversation seems to die and he thanks me for my time. 

Now to be honest, we haven’t talked much about alkaline water. It’s not the standard medical therapy for anything. However, I do know how to read a journal article. And once I asked for evidence-based findings, things started to fall apart. 

Moral of the story… If you’re going to try to sell me expensive water that is supposed to improve my health… you better back it up with some peer-reviewed evidence.

Bomb Threat on Campus — a crazy day.

Was a crazy day on campus. I noticed that it was full of police cars and fire trucks as I drove by. I was supposed to be at one of Loma Linda’s other campuses (not the main one). I was curious what was going on.

Soon the LLU Emergency system started kicking in. I got a call with an automated message on my cell phone and an email. The progression was concerning. First it asked those on campus to stay away from the West part of campus and that those on campus should remain where they were. Then there was a second alert announcing that there was an evacuation of all facilities on the West side of campus. Finally they sent out an all clear.

Loma Linda University just posted the following on their Facebook page:

News alert

At approximately 8:00 a.m this morning, a male entered the Loma Linda University Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) complaining of chest pain. He later claimed he had a bomb. ED doctors confirmed the patient was carrying some type of device. At that time, the patient was removed from the ED to the ED parking lot, accompanied by appropriate medical personnel where he was evaluated.

The ED lobby and parking lot was immediately evacuated, and a perimeter was created. Local police, fire and bomb squad responded to the scene. The West side of the campus was evacuated –Barton and Campus St, North to University, including the LLU School of Pharmacy and Nursing, and the Global Health Institute. The bomb squad completed their evaluation and determined there was a suspicious device, which was recovered from the patient and deemed to be non-explosive.

At approximately 11:00 a.m. the evacuation order was lifted and the campus was deemed clear and is in full operation. We have resumed admitting patients to the ED. The patient continues to receive additional care. For additional details related to the criminal element in this situation, pelase contact the San Bernardino County Sherriff Dept. PIO Cindy Bachman, 909-387-0639.

Just glad everyone is ok and nothing serious happened.