Well, hello there! Looks like I'm averaging one post every 2 years. I'm just about done with residency and I'm getting married on July 25th. Residency was rough at times, but I feel really comfortable with what I do and am happy to start working when I'm done. In any event, 2008/2009 was a bitter sweet year. My mom got sick with cancer (clear cell carcinoma secondary to in utero exposure to DES), but fortunately without metastasis and to date has been treated successfully with debulking, chemo, and brachytherapy. She's still being reevaluated periodically and we're hoping we don't find any recurrence. Anyhow, her being sick led me to realize that you have to go pursue the things in life that you love. Playing out with a band or just alone or whatever is something I always wanted to do but put on the backburner because school always came first. I decided to make that happen after my mom got sick because really, life is toooooo short. And after I did it, I thought it wasn't too hard and so it's much easier now. There is still quite a bit to work on. But, at least it's a start. I also recently watched Yes Man. I realize I probably should say yes to more opportunities that arise in my life as well. And then we'll see what road that takes me down. All of this should have been very apparent earlier on in my life.....since I'm such a huge John Lennon fan and he sings in "Mind Games" that "Yes is the answer". Oooooh well. So, I'm not just in one band, but in TWO lol. I need to work on the latter band (Librans Fall) a little bit more. And Kat-Squared is the one I just front for now. Mostly covers to get started but I have enough original material to fill a set now. I'll phase out the covers with time. Check us out. www.myspace.com/kat2squared and www.myspace.com/libransfall.

Best wishes from me to you!

Hey everyone. I hope that everyone is doing well. It's funny to be back in southern California after being away. Admittedly I miss many of my friends. I started my Cardiology rotation earlier this month. I've loved it so far. The attendings have been very patient and gracious in taking their time to teach us. I also met with one of my best friends last weekend, and we ended up discussing how her work environment is. She indicated that in the past older employees were ....how shall I say it, not as gentle with her as she would have liked during the initial phases of training. In fact, she learned very quickly since one of her employees outright said to her that anyone else's time was worth more money than her own so she should be more careful when asking for another person's help. And now that I think about it, that makes all these people who have been so helpful toward me that much more gracious. Back in school, when all you do is learn, you are theoretically paying all these people for their efforts in teaching you. And now that I'm in residency and visiting departments that aren't getting paid to teach me, I appreciate all their knowledge and efforts to teach me so much more. *sigh* So much to learn.

Well, I am a few weeks into my anesthesiology residency here at Loma Linda. I love it. I work hard, am exhausted, but I love it. As my program director says, it's a powerful feeling to put someone under general anesthesia. It's nice because I get to help treat people who would not have any other alternative routs of treatment. This sure beats spending a lifetime doing cosmetic dentistry for a living. I feel invigorated. My mind and body are both on overdrive. It's terrific.

Hi all. I'm currently up at Mammoth with Frank for his annual retreat with his lab (and another lab from Caltech). It's nice because they gave us our own room. Granted it's not as cozy as a cabin, but at least it's our own room (and it was free). We are also engaged officially. I mean, we both knew. But at least it's finalized and the wheels have to be set in motion. I won't start planning seriously until I move back to so cal. Soooo...I am just sitting here trying to garner enough energy to leave the room and get ready for snowboarding. I think I'm out of shape so it'll hit me pretty hard. Meh. I should get ready haha.

Happy holidays everyone! Hope you all are having fun on your break (if you get one). I was home for a brief 4 days and commuted the 5th day back to Palo Alto. It's nice being home but I am starting to get the feeling that my space there is just too small for me now. I can't wait till I have my own home. I was reading my older blogs from back in the college days. Wow, was that a long time ago. It's funny to see how things have changed. I don't even write that often but I am beginning to appreciate how nice it is to have some documentation of where you are in different parts of your life.

Well, I almost died during my break. I was on the 405N around 4PM the day after Christmas. I was driving my little civic and was in this car's blind spot. He decides to change lanes and Iswerve to miss him but I lost control of my car and spun out. It was scary as I spun in an entire 360 and was looking at all the oncoming traffic on the freeway. Luckily I managed to complete the circle and go straight off. It's a miracle that I didn't spin out into another car or into the median. There is nothing more frightening I've ever experienced than realizing that you are facing the wrong way on the freeway. But I guess it wasn't my time yet and God let me live another day. Hopefully I'll do something good with my life to make it worthwhile. Cheers to that. Happy New Years!

Hello all. I have good news. I got into dental anesthesiology :). I am quite pleased. I will be attending Loma Linda University for the next two years (2007-2009). *beams*

Hello! I know I don't write much. I guess there has been a lot going on. I'm sure anyone who knows me and cares knows most of the details of my life anyway, but I will continue to write for those interested. I graduated from dental school on time. I couldn't have done it without my friends. And I mean that in a very literal way. If not for the donations of procedures to me, I wouldn't have made it. Anyhow, I am currently residing in sunny Palo Alto, CA (which is about 40 min south of SF for those who don't know). I'm doing a general practice residency at the Palo Alto VA hospital. I can't say enough how much I'm enjoying it there. Not only are the people great to work with, I get to learn and get paid. I'm currently applying to two dental anesthesiology programs right now--Loma Linda and UCLA. There are only 5 programs in the US, and I would like to stay in CA for personal reasons of course. There's one spot at UCLA, and a few at Loma Linda though I'm not sure the exact number. So, of course, the pickings are slim. Unfortunately, I have my heart set on it. Hopefully it won't be a let down. So keep your fingers crossed for me if you have gotten this far in the post.

It was so strange moving up here at first and meeting more peers who are also recent graduates of dental school. In dental school, the only people who knew anything about dentistry were your classmates. And all of a sudden, there are these people from all over who also know too. So that was weird. It's also strange to think that all of us who spent the last 4 yrs together are moving in different directions, learning different things. For instance, my best friend in dental school is in St. Louis, MO. Missouri!! Is that above Canada??? LOL. At least that's what her grandma asked when she told her. I also think I will appreciate working with my former classmates in the future as well. It's not just the aspect of working with people you know, but growing as a professional in different ways.

So why anesthesiology after dental school? Well, I know it is nerdy, but I actually do enjoy understanding how the body works in it's entirety. After all that training I've had, I feel that the finer details are lost when you focus on just the head and neck area. So, I am hoping to further consolidate what knowledge I already have, acquire new information, and be able to clinically make it useful to patients. By nature, I am more intuitive. The intangible is what appeals to me. I am thankful for dentistry because it forced me to hone my underdeveloped sense of the physical world around me. Thanks to dentistry, I can pick up a scalpel, cut someone open (anesthetized of course), and do all sorts of cool things with a reasonable amount of confidence. I guess I can use my hands to do whatever it is that needs to get done. I know if I went to medical school I would have picked to specialize in something nonsurgical, and never would have had this experience that I do now. But I miss the other stuff. So here's to hoping I'll have a chance. It's no longer in my hands...

My best friend from college is engaged (and has been for a while I just haven't made the post). This brings me a lot of joy, but also makes me realize how old I'm getting. I guess because of dental school and now residency, I still feel like I did in college, except I get to work on people. But besides that, technically almost all other aspects were the same. Classes, requirements to meet, classmates, etc. It's just been an extension of college (a much harder version of course). And am trying to sign up for 2 more years? LoL. I can feel my eggs withering away.