Happy New Year

I can say this now, because it is 2007 in some parts of the world. The picture above is from Sydney, Australa (*waving to HP*).

I've finally caught up on my rest. I don't want to bore you with all the details, but it was just crazy at work last week. Great to have a weekend off to catch my breath.

On a day like today, one cannot help but reflect back on the year that was and the year that will be. Even though it's really cheezy to say, but it is a time of hope. A time to kind of give yourself a clean slate to start again.

Some are really into this new year's resolution thing. I admit that sometimes I make them and sometimes I don't. There's this columnist that says Forget New Year's Resolutions. But, for me, here we go.

Physical health: I know. I'm one of the many people who make this resolution. But, I really think that I can do it this time. Or, maybe it's the guilt of all those sweets that I consumed at holiday time. Hmm....

Mental health: Why do I feel like I'm confessing all my sins? Anyway, I could do a little better at dealing with stress. Usually, when I'm at work, I have no problem reaching for the M&Ms or whatever chocolate is around - especially last week when things were really busy. Finding a better way to deal with this will help. How to do this? I'm still working on that.

Better blogging: Yes, that's right. Even though you see links to all my fave posts in the sidebar, I really believe that my best blogging will be in 2007. Or, I'll completely lose my mind and write the worst posts ever. You'll have to stay tuned and find out. Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

Still here

I know that there have been reports that I've been trapped at Denver International Airport all week. Wouldn't that be an interesting story? I feel bad for those people out there. Who wanted a white Christmas?

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I'm still around - just swamped at work this week. Although, I was one of those millions who tried to use my iTunes gift card earlier this week and found a slow server. Finally was able to get some music.

Sorry about the boring update. I'm going to get some rest this weekend and hopefully be back to normal blogging next week. Happy New Year 2007!

Grand Rounds

I'm going to be working a lot this week. So, I want to apologize up front if I have a sparsity of posts over the next few days. The docs in our group take turns working the holidays throughout the year, and this is my year for the Xmas/New Year's stretch. Also, I've gotten lots of spam comments the last few days. So, I'll be moderating comments until I think the spam has slowed down. Sorry. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Grand Rounds 3.14 has went home for the holidays. If you have never heard of Grand Rounds before, it is a group of medically related posts brought together in one place every Tuesday. The final Grand Rounds of 2006 is up an running at Blogborygmi. Thanks to THE MAN, Nick Genes, for including my submit under the "levity" section.

Dr. Anonymous is upset about me being named Time magazine's Person of the Year (and here I was, thinking you were the choice). He proposes something else -- something that can be part of us, and yet, is distinctly not us...

Nick was also a little reflective talking about those medical bloggers who have stopped blogging and those bloggers who took some time off and now are back. If you have never checked out Grand Rounds before, I would encourage you to check it out this week. This is the best the medical blogosphere has to offer! It's Grand Rounds!

Merry Christmas

On this Christmas holiday, Mimi Lenox is asking bloggers around the world to re-post their peace globes from the original blogcast for peace from November 7, 2006. This was a great idea, and I'm happy to be a part of it again.

In other news, I tried again to switch to the new Blogger, but was again rejected with the same message I received the first time from Blogger beta. Oh well, maybe something can be figured out for people like me who are having problems switching.

Finally, some time today, I will have had my 50,000 visitor to the Doctor Anonymous blog. I cannot believe it took only six months (plus one week). Are you the 50,000th visitor? Let me know. I mean, hey, YOU are Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Happy holidays from all of us here at Doctor Anonymous!

Do they know it's christmas

This is the 1984 video of the song by Band Aid. Found it on YouTube. I forgot how many stars (at the time) were on this song. How many can you name? I'm on call this long holiday weekend. So, I'll be around the blogosphere seeing what's going on. Don't forget to put up Mimi's Peace Globe on Sunday. Safe travel to those of you going out on the road, in the sky, or out at sea, or wherever you're at. Happy Holidays!

A Blogger's Story

There is an interesting concept that just started out there today in blogland. It is a soap opera story with the main characters being bloggers - Hmmmmm...

Ok folks here goes… ways back in the blog a thon days.. Cathy and I discused doing a soap with all these bloggers… now well I think I am going to do it and it will work like this.

If you want to partisapate let me know. You will be a part of the story as well as writting the story. Anything goes.. know that up front cause like.. Don’t want people getting offended ok.

Apparently, this has been talked about for a while by Wolfbaby and Cathy. Well, today, the first installment has been posted over on Dreaming and Believing.

Wolfbaby cleaned the bar top to a polished shine then looked around the new place with pride. It was almost opening time and soon all of her blog world friend would come to see the new meeting place. What an idea they had all come up with. A jointly owned and operated restaurant and bar to allow all the blog owners to safely meet debate and create. There was a safe haven for everyone. A library room for those who loved to read and write. Along the walls of the place were cubbies for painters to paint. Plenty of tables for people to eat and talk. Lots of good food and drink for everyone to enjoy. This was a proud moment for all of them. As the time drew nearer to open the doors for the first time Wolfbaby grew giddy at the thought of meeting all her friends in person. As she opened the door to greet her friends Wolfbaby wondered how this joint endeavor would turn out.

One year later...

How's that for a teaser? Read the rest of this episode on the post called WolfDen Soap Part 1. (Post your comments over there) Like I told them, I've a lover and not a writer. LOL! So, I volunteered to be in the story but not write anything. We'll see how the esteemed writers treat my character...

Holiday personality

Your Holiday Personality is Fun

You're all about the celebrating. Whether you're partying hard or singing along to Christmas music, you're totally enjoying the holidays. Make your own Christmas ornaments. Create a holiday mix for all your friends' stockings. Run around your neighborhood late Christmas Eve ringing bells.

How Should You Spend the Holidays?

Welcome back to holiday week here at Doctor Anonymous. Here's another personality test for you. Take the test yourself and post on your blog!

Gift cards

Since this is the holiday season, why not talk about gift giving. Back in October, I talked about the whole thing of re-gifting. And, that seemed to generate some discussion.

I have to admit that I'm horrible at picking out gifts for people. I dread going to the mall and trying to figure things out. When I was introduced to the gift card, my life changed dramatically.

I know some people are offended by this gesture, but for me, it says, "Hey, I know what ever I get for you, you're going to return anyway, and get what you really want. So, why not cut to the chase. Here's a gift card."

I was talking with one of my co-workers here at the office. She thinks the gift card thing is totally insulting and saw on television the idea of plastic surgery, er, cosmetic surgery, gift cards. What? Huh?

I did a little research on this and found an article in USA Today talking about giving the gift of plastic surgery. Hmmmmm....

Tina Baldwin, 48, of Newfield, N.J., was thrilled this fall when her husband gave her an early holiday present: any cosmetic surgery she wanted. She chose liposuction.

As others like Baldwin gear up to look their best for the holiday season, cosmetic surgery centers nationwide are offering gift-giving specials, where anything from wrinkle-reducing Botox injections to breast implants can be credited to the gift giver.

I would imagine some people would like to get plastic surgery as a gift from someone. But, I would also imagine that others may have a problem with this....

The gift giver may also offend the recipient, says Zachary Gerut, a Long Island plastic surgeon and assistant clinical professor at Albert Einstein Medical Center in New York. He says it's not uncommon for a husband to bestow the gift of a breast implant upon his wife this time of year. "Why don't you just insult the poor lady and be done with it? It's like telling someone they have bad breath," he says.

So, as you're making your final checks of your list to see who has been naughty and who has been nice, don't forget to factor in the plastic surgery gift card for someone your love. If that's too expensive for you, then there's always the Olive Garden. Happy Holidays!

Dr. A's person of the year

In case you haven't heard yet, Time Magazine's Person of the Year is YOU. That's right, YOU. I know, you're asking yourself, Huh? In my opinion, Time has reached a new low here. In an effort to offend no one, they took the easy way out and named everybody, er, YOU. That's pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Time has assured itself that this annual distinction is now irrelevant. It's like me naming a person of the year. So, why not! If Time Magazine can make itself look important, then I'll do the same.

My person of the year is not actually a person. In addition, there is not even an agreed upon name of this "person." Now, before you think I'm going to do a spirituality post (not that there's anything wrong with that), here are the many names that have been used for my "person": Bug, Bacteria, Virus, Germ, Infection....

Well, you get the idea. In 2006, the population of the world has gotten to know more about microscopic organisms than ever before. For example, ripped from recent headlines....

E.Coli: Forget about bagged spinach from California. That story is so three months ago. Now, the big thing is the infection raging through Taco Bell restaurants. Oops! I forgot, the CDC has now announced that Taco Bell is now safe to return to. I know that because in watching TV on Sunday, at least twice an hour, the president of Taco Bell had an announcement asking people to come back. I wonder how much that cost. Probably pennies compared to the revenue lost over the past few weeks. Anyone remember Chi-Chi mexican restaurant? They had an outbreak in 2003, not with E.coli, but Hepatits A. Chi-Chi's went out of business soon after that.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa: This is a bacteria usually found in water and soil. It may not sound familiar, but if I say this bacteria closed the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units at a Los Angeles hospital two weeks ago, then it may ring a bell. Five babies were infected and two babies died from this bug.

MRSA: The long name is "methicillin resistant staph aureus." This is a big and bad sounding name, and this bacteria usually is. This is a bug whose victims are usually elderly patients with extended hospitalizations. In this story from the UK, hospitals there are finding a more powerful strain of MRSA, meaning it is more difficult to treat. As bacteria get exposed to more and more powerful antibiotics, the bacteria adapt and become more and more powerful. A dangerous trend.

NoroVirus: This virus first made it's mark on the scene on cruise ships. Remember hearing about cruise ship illnesses? This was norovirus at work. Now, it had made landfall - namely at Olive Garden restaurant in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. Almost 400 people in that community have been affected. One wonders how much that's going to hurt that business not only locally, but nationally as well.

Finally, I've already had my flu shot rant this year. I'm also upset about the media hype over flu shot surpluses. But, that's a rant for another day. What will 2007 bring? Well, in addition to all of the above, bird flu is still on the radar screen. What new bugs are on the horizon? We'll have to see. Congrats to Dr. A's person of the year! Don't forget to wash your hands....

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds 3.13 is now up and running over at Nurse Ratched's Place. I love the title and theme this week: It's Christmas Grand Rounds, Charlie Brown! Thanks to Mother Jones RN for including my submit this week:

And speaking of eating Christmas goodies over the holidays, Dr. Anonymous writes about websites that take us into the world of anorexia and bulimia, and gives us his opinion about an aritcle that was written about these websites.

Grand Rounds goes home next week to Blogborygmi (say that fast three times). What a Christmas present that is, Charlie Brown! Dr. Nick Genes, the founder of Grand Rounds, will be taking the reigns for the December 26th edition. For now, enjoy the best the medical blogosphere has to offer this week. It's Grand Rounds!