the first last

Yesterday was my last day of vision therapy. My normal 11 o'clock appointment had her last session last week. The 12 o'clock session won't be filled until summer, after I'm long gone. Lunch was wonderful. Lois, our receptionist/billing person/vt mom, is also a caterer...which I didn't find out until yesterday. She made a wonderful garlic pesto pasta casserole, a beautiful fruit platter, and taco salad for our last lunch together. That was a real treat. Especially because we fully expected the day to be long finishing paperwork. The record for latest day was 10:30pm.

Our lunch hour in vision therapy is 1-2p with a conference generally scheduled for 2:00p. My 3 o'clock appointment canceled. However, one of the doctors was in need of an eye exam. She hadn't had her eyes checked in 4 years!!! And because I was a good boy and did all my paperwork over the weekend, I got to do the exam. One of the other interns was asked to do the exam, but I had to do it because his paperwork wasn't finished. Kinda made me mad, but at least I had something to do. It was a quick exam. The doctor knew all the right things to tell me, of course.

My 4 o'clock appointment canceled. Then I got handed a walk-in appointment. It was a progress exam for a patient with whom I was totally unfamiliar. So, I had just a minute to thumb through the record and decide which tests to do. After doing the tests, the doctor (a substitute for the regular doctor) came up with three times as many tests to do...so I had to haul my stuff and the patient and his mom across the clinic to the other wing where they were trying to lock up for the night. When I was half done with the additional tests, I got paged for my 5 o'clock appointment. I actually get to see a patient as scheduled...if I can get this one done!

I finished with my unexpected patient and picked up the next at 5:20p. Yeah. Late. He was doing so well that I increased his activities for the coming weeks until he can be seen again by a new intern.

The day was done and just beginning. The end of semester paperwork was a killer. After an hour or so, Lois offered to pick up some pizza. What the heck. Party in Jefferson Hall. We all pitched in and Lois got some pizza and soda. By the time Lois got back, we were watching the Dodgers game on my computer and casually working on our paperwork. Then Lois volunteered to go up into the faculty lounge and get some beer. The doctor had gone home for dinner, but when he got back, the makings of a party were complete. The only party pooper was the security guy who came around a couple times. We had to hide our beers from him. haha

Anyway, it was fun. I got to see some people with their guards down. It's nice to get in touch with the people behind the professional facade. By the time it was said and done (and eaten and drinken), we had the record for latest group. We weren't exactly hustling and it was nearly 11:00p. Good times.

Today was my last day at the Portland clinic. One doctor gave us cookies. The other is hosting a party next week. Should be another great opportunity to see a doctor (future colleague) in a more personal light.