Lately...

I feel as though I've been going nonstop! I'm going to try to do a quick recap since I've been MIA in blogland for about the past month.
Early May was the start of the swine flu epidemic...and as much as I laughed at all of the paranoid people we saw in our ER, I quickly stopped when I myself contracted the flu. I didn't know it at the time, but two weeks after I was sick I was called in to the Occupational Health nurse's office and asked if I had contact with patient John Doe. Turns out little Johnny had the swine flu, but we didn't get his positive test result until two weeks later, so by that time I had made contact, had the flu, and totally recovered! I still had to fill out a form documenting my symptoms and the time frame they occured, but I lived through it.
I spent the next few weeks celebrating, brother Brad's 23rd birthday, friend Elyse's 25th birthday, and later in the month, roommate Jenni's 25th!
May 20-25 I spent in Boston MA. It was such a fun trip! I went for the Annual Child Life Conference, which was paid for thanks to the hard work and begging my boss did! I flew there with 5 co-workers from our main Children's hospital and had a blast seeing the city and learning new ideas and being refreshed on my job. But more to come on that trip later.
The past two months I've been working hard on another goal of mine....getting healthy! I turn 25 next week and I want this year to be different and productive! I went to my new doctor (who I LOVE) on April 1 for a physical. She and I both discussed how I really needed to lose weight, and we did a panel of labs to check my cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroid function, etc etc. Labs came back that my cholesterol and triglycerides were high, not to my surprise...I don't exactly eat perfectly. So I began what has been a hard but rewarding journey. It's not over by any means, but when I returned to my doctor this week for a follow-up I'd found I have lost 20 pounds, and my labs came back today with news that my cholesterol was 40 points lower, in a perfectly healthy range! My triglycerides had also come down and are also in a much better range. Although there are occasional days I want to go eat a cow, I have enjoyed the past few months, I have more energy and I'm finding foods that I like and that are better for me. Another added bonus is that I went shopping before I went to Boston and was able to buy a few things from The Gap...I haven't shopped there in a long time!!
My strategy you ask? I'm obsessively using The Daily Plate ( http://www.thedailyplate.com/ ) to track the nutrition info on the things I eat, and I'm working out in my neighborhood clubhouse 5 days a week. I share this with you so that you can help keep me motivated, I've still got a long way to go before I reach my goal weight. Hopefully my long term success can be a motivation for someone else!
When I have more time I've got a few new foods I'm eating that I want to share...eating healthy really doesn't have to mean eating ruffage and cardboard every day!
Work is going well, yesterday was crazy in our ER since it was the last day of school. We couldn't exactly put our fingers on why, but we saw more kids yesterday with broken bones, large cuts, and sports injuries than we have in a long time! Usually summer is slower in our hospital since families take vacations and kids aren't spreading germs as quickly via the classroom...but this summer just might be different! I was also just informed today that I've been nominated for an excellence award, so we'll see how that pans out...
For now I've got to get to work! Until next time Gadget...