Well the first week is almost done! I've worked nights this week and it has been pretty interesting. I was pretty nervous for this rotation, but as it turns out the emergency department isn't quite as scary as I thought. It is definitely interesting!!


The cabin we're staying in is on our preceptor's land, so we're not out in the middle of nowhere alone. The hospital is about 10-15 minutes away. In the other direction is Old Navy, Starbucks, Wal-Mart.....everything you need away from home :)


At the hospital we get free food! We can hang out in the doctor's lounge and use the internet.....it has some couches and a TV.....not too bad!


We plan on doing some hiking this weekend and head to Columbus.....maybe a road trip while we're here. The zoo is home to Jack Hannah....okay not home I guess cause he's not in a cage....so we're hoping to head to the zoo as well.


Hope everyone is enjoying spring!!!
Take Care,
:) Natalie

Downward Slope

I'm sitting in the Vegas airport......trying not to dump $$ into the machines, too bad they don't have any roulette tables! I'm on my way to Ohio. Never been there....not sure what to expect. I'm staying with a classmate in a cabin 10 minutes from the hospital. The Dr. who is our preceptor owns it and rents it out to students. We're doing our emergency rotation so it should be pretty interesting.

Only 4 weeks left before I get to be home on a permanent basis....can't believe it is almost over. It feels like this last year has just flown by! Although if you had asked me that in the fall I may have not felt that way :)

This last month in Idaho was great. Dermatology was a lot of fun. I learned a ton even if I end up in family practice or urgent care, derm will really help A LOT. And I'll never go anywhere without sunscreen again! Plus I was back in college land so I got to see people that I never get to see. Always something to do in Nampa!

Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for all of the emails, it has been great keeping in contact with everyone.
Take Care!!
:) NatalieGraduation is less than 5 months away (8-18-07!!!!)

Back to Potato Land

Well I'm back in potato country....Nampa, ID where I spent 4 years going to NNU. My brother in law and his wife offered me a room for the month so I'm living with them and another friend who is also staying with them....it's like the good ole college days!

I'm doing my elective rotation in Dermatology here in Nampa. If there is one thing I've learned, wear your sunscreen......everyone ends up with pre-cancer or skin cancer! Froze quite a few things off today. His office also has cometic types of things such as microdermabrasion and skin tightening lasers. I think this rotation will help a lot if I end up in family practice or urgent care....he has a great algorithm that helps identify lesions and rashes.......I know I just lost pretty much everybody with that last sentence :)

Greg is at home, but will be back in Nampa in another week to visit!!! He's been busy with lobbying since Oregon is in session right now. He goes down to Salem (the capitol) a few times a week to testify for bills and do his lobby thing! Hope all is well with everyone. Can't wait for spring to get here.....it's just around the corner!!
Take care,
:) Natalie

I LOVE SPACE!!!

Summit of Mauna Kea, so beautiful!

This sort of reminds me of Star Wars for some reason

Are we on the moon here??

Subaru Observatories

Me on the summit of Mauna Kea, seriously who wears flip flops on a mountain?!?! It was really freakin cold (20's-30's) but I had blisters, so no shoes for me.

Sunset at the Summit

Happy Natalie among all of the other nerdy science lovers!

For those of you who didn't know, I love space. Yes it is true I grew up going to science camps instead of playing sports :) So for me the one touristy thing I really wanted to do was to go stargazing on the summit of Mauna Kea......14,000ft. It was absolutely amazing and so beautiful. We left Kona in the afternoon and headed up to the mountain. Made a pit stop at the visitor's center for food and gift shopping. Which was perfect, I bought sweat pants, since I didn't have any pants to wear!! Then we headed up to the summit for sunset. After sunset we came back down to 9,000 ft for stargazing. It was incredible, sipping hot cocoa and looking at the RINGS OF SATURN! Yeah AWESOME!!

Still waiting to hear if I even have a next rotation. It is now Tuesday and I'm supposed to be somewhere Mon! Hmmmmm, we'll have to wait and see I guess. I head home on Friday. Can't wait to see my greg. Although we both wish he were coming here!!!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Surgery is coming to an end...

This has been an incredible rotation. I have learned so much. I've been able to assist in surgery, much harder than I thought (the coordination thing gets me). I saw my first C-section yesterday.....let me just say AMAZING! I'm hoping to see a few more births before I leave. My preceptor has given me free reign on the hospital so I can just pop into any dept throw out his name and learn! A great opportunity.

I'm glad to be getting home......Hawaii is great, but come on paradise gets lonely without Greg! I still DO NOT HAVE MY NEXT ROTATION set!!!!!!! Am I stressed? I have gotten past that, now I'm just going with the flow. So we'll see what happens with that.

Hope everyone is doing well and sticking to those resolutions (mine is about half out the window........)
Take Care
:) Natalie

Family in Town

My cousin Linda came to visit! This is her first visit to Hawaii. It has been great having a familiar face around.

Whale watching off of Waikoloa on the Red Sails Catamaran. There were 4 very active whales, 2 of which were fighting for some hot female whale.

Another gorgeous night in Kona. It is so beautiful here. It really has been amazing waking up in paradise everyday! But I'll be glad to be home and see my Greg!

The Road to the Super Bowl

Well those who know me, know that I am not gifted with athletic skills. However, I've been rooting my team towards the Super Bowl and just have to say THE COLTS ARE GOING ALL THE WAY BABY!!!! Greg is more than thrilled that I finally picked a team (although he was disapointed I didn't choose Denver) last year and can watch an entire Colts game and cheer with the right lingo :) So next week be sure and cheer for Indianapolis!

1 down 3 to go...

See it can be cloudy here!

Oh Beautiful Kona

My place...small and cozy

Well I am finally settled in to my place here in South Kona. It's pretty small, feels like dorm life again. But hey it's cheap, clean, close to the beach and hospital! I am literally 1 block off of the main street that goes through the touristy area of Kona on Ali'i Dr.
So far surgery has been pretty incredible. It is very different from my previous rotations, I felt really out of place the first day :) But once I saw how things run and who does what it has been nothing but enjoyable. Yesterday was the first day that I got to scrub in and actually help out with surgery. I had my hand in a man's abdomen....incredible! And I didn't ruin the sterile field, which let me tell ya I was worried about....we all know I am the clumsy one and somehow I managed to harness it! The surgeons were removing most of his stomach due to cancer and this surgery would add a few months to his life.
I only worked Wed-Fri this week so I'm not sure exactly how the weeks to follow are going to go, but it seems I will be spending most of my time in the OR or on the medical surgical floor with my preceptor. If my preceptor does not have surgery I round with him first thing in the morning to check on his patients and then go up to the OR and see if I can watch any of the surgeries on the board. If my preceptor has surgery then I scrub in for sure.

It is a small hospital, which I am really growing to love. I don't see myself working in a large hospital or clinic at all. There are 3 operating rooms and they are all next to each other. Everyone knows each other and has a great sense of humor.

I don't know how I keep lucking out with all of these great rotations. My preceptor is another very laid back person who likes to joke around. I think these next 3 weeks are going to fly by, which is great cause I can't wait to see my Greg again! But we both agree it would be better if he were here and not freezing at home :)

It has been so great to hear from everyone! It can be hard sometimes being totally alone out here in the middle of the Pacific. I don't have the small community feel of Unalaska out here :) But it keeps me working out way more than normal, so that is a plus!

Hope everyone is enjoying the new year.
Have a wonderful day!!
:) Natalie

Happy New Year!

Family Snorkel Day!

Hanging out on the snorkel boat!

I love Honu!!

My henna tattoo!!

Sunset on the Kona shoreline

Hapuna Prince Pool

Greg and I posing at sunset

Sunset from Hapuna

Well Christmas vacation is over and the new year is here. Greg went home yesterday and I moved into my little studio for the month. We both wish he could have just stayed for the month.....but since he's the only one bringin in the bacon.....that just can't work. Greg is getting ready for the legislation which goes into session next Monday....lots of trips to the capitol for him.


The Dr. I am working with is laid back and it sounds like this rotation will be another enjoyable one. In fact today I had the day off, so I went to check out the operating room....where I will be tomorrow morning at 7:30. Two gallbladder removals and one carpal tunnel decompression are on the schedule.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!


Happy New Year!

Christmas Time!

Salt water pool at the condo....amazing when there are good waves comin in

There's a turtle here.....can you find it??

Greg on Christmas Eve playing in the waves

Part of our condo in Kona

Mele Kalikimaka!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it is sunny and warm here! Definitely does not feel like Christmas except for the palm trees wrapped in lights. We've done some snorkeling and boogie boarding. It has been awesome spending time with Greg's family........We've been BBQ-ing and relaxin everyday. Hope you are enjoying the holidays with your loved ones.
:) Natalie and Greg