G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

3 days and 2 nights without sleep while trying to keep 1 critically ill patient alive including 3 separate codes during one of which emergently opening the patients abdomen and completely emptying his entire small bowel and part of his colon onto his belly and shocking the Cedars ICU nurses and residents as they had never seen such a thing before and this is the result:

In the "in-famous" words of my sister Emily: Don't hate me because I am beautiful.

Hope you enjoy this glamorous view into the life they call "residency".

And yes, this is how I looked the last 36 of the 60 hours at the hospital.

Christmas...at both of our HOMES!

Todd and I had a WONDERFUL Christmas! He and I both worked on Christmas Eve day, but were able to spend the evening together. We went out for a quick dinner at CPK and then opened presents with each other. This year, Todd and I have been able to earn extra money working moonlighting shifts, so I was able to spoil my most fantastic husband...something in years past he has given up in order to provide me with fabulous presents!

Our Christmas Tree

He was given clothes (not so exciting for him), a new IPod, and his most prized gift...a Playstation 3!

Showing off his "loot"

Todd never fails to surprise me...I had received a very nice purse for my Birthday/Christmas. However, he let me do some shopping and even went so far as to wrap the things that I had bought for myself. He then hid a small box under the Christmas tree skirt that he gave to me later in the evening...beautiful black pearl earrings that match a necklace he gave me for my 30th birthday! He is the best gift-giver ever...all husbands should be so good!

We then spent the remainder of the evening watching the classic holiday movie...Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!

We both worked Christmas morning and then spent the afternoon listening to Christmas music while preparing a turkey dinner that we were blessed to share with our sweet sister missionaries. They shared a beautiful Christmas message about the Savior and brought an amazing spirit of peace and gratitude into our home. The rest of the evening was crazy...we did laundry and packed to leave for SLC early the next morning. There was much anxiety and stress as we learned at 8PM our time that the SLC airport was closed due to snow and it was unsure as to when it would re-open. Todd and I decided we would get up and go to the airport for our 6AM departure and prayed that the runways would be clear....PRAYERS ANSWERED!

We arrived sleepy but safely to Utah early morning on the 26th. We immediately went to visit with Todd's grandparents and then had a nice dinner and belated "Christmas Day" celebration with Todd's family.

My 4-inch high heels were not what you call "snow-friendly"

Todd with Grandpa and Grandma Grunander

Todd, Jason and Mallory anxious to open their gifts!

Cute picture of Jen, Heidi and Andrew....sorry, couldn't get it to flip the right direction.

Carl and Christine....thanks for a wonderful Christmas.

The evening of the 26th was spent opening gifts with my family. John and Brittney had also flown in that same day and it was so great to have everyone together!!!

What an angel...so beautiful!!!


Dad enjoying his new office chair and Colts shirt!


We were definitely spoiled...thank you Mom and Dad!

The 27th was spent with my family. All of the boys spent the morning playing basketball and trying not to kill each other. The rest of the day was spent in a fierce competition of Madden Football on the X-Box. The girls knew the better way to spend the day...shopping the after-Christmas sales (as if we didn't get enough Christmas presents already).

"Shopped Til We Dropped"

Shoes...always bring a smile to my face!!!

The Wolthuis/Herbert Clans were nice enough to delay the traditional Christmas Eve party until the 27th when we could all be there! Thank you everyone for waiting...it made Christmas!

Bart and Jared in the Grandad Bart Memorial Jumpsuit...belt not included!

Devin, Eileen, Gwen and Emily singing "Must Be Santa....Snotty Nose"

Cannon, Emily, John, Brittney and Elle with their presents for the Left-Right game...




Lorin with his present...a size 12 shoe...only 2 sizes too big. Too bad Devin stole it from you.




Todd couldn't have been happier than with his present...$5.



Emily showing off the gift she brought...a sleeve tattoo...

which Brady ended up with...and wore to church the next day!

As if the sleeve tattoo wasn't popular...the most prized gift of the evening was

Hannah-Montana wig...

What I would look like as a blonde...I finally fit in to the family!




"John-celyn"



You can't help but adore this precious woman!

Sunday couldn't have been better...sleep in, great breakfast, attending church, Sunday dinner, and visiting with both families.

Monday we went down to SLC to eat dinner and walk through Temple Square...oh how I miss living on first avenue and being able to see the Capital Building and Temple Square from our balcony! The weather was perfect, the lights were amazing, the company the best!

Jocelyn is always gorgeous...Cannon refusing to smile...oh how I love that guy!

Brady enjoying his gift to Laurel...the IPod touch.



Me and my FAVORITE brother!




Emily and Colton...oh how I love that guy!

The True Meaning of Christmas!

Of course we couldn't leave Utah without a day of cards/games and Cafe Rio, which is how we spent Tuesday before heading to the airport to return to LA.

Thank You to both families for making our visit so wonderful!! We are so blessed to have your love and support!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Away from Home on Christmas....

What could be more depressing than being away from home on Christmas you ask???

Answer: Being away from home while working at a Jewish Hospital. No signs of Christmas to be seen except for a few lights hung on the side of the walkway connecting the employee parking lot to the main hospital...of which, only about ~1/3 of the stings actually light up...almost more depressing than if the lights weren't hung at all!

I did come into the ICU today to be greeted by a lighted menora celebrating the beginning of Hanukkah. So, I guess I will pull out my dreidel and join in the festivities....or maybe just go home and sit in front of my beatifully lit Christmas tree, look at my nativity set, listen to The Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing songs rejoicing in the birth of our Savior and reflect on Christ and His meaning in my life...

And yes, I will be away from home on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, however Todd and I will be celebrating and exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve and have the blessing of feeding our dear sister missionaries on Christmas Day (best way to spend the day if not at home in Utah).

How I spent my Thanksgiving....LA style...

Todd and I spent this Thanksgiving in Los Angeles....and yes, we both actually had the day off and were able to spend it with each other. One of the residents that Todd works with was kind enough to invite us to have dinner with him and his wife's family. We were very excited for the prospect of a home-cooked meal since we both worked last year and enjoyed a late evening dinner at a restaurant. Todd grew up eating Thanksgiving at Snowbird and in recent years has just come to appreciate all that a Thanksgiving at home has to offer....especially the late night leftover sandwiches on yummy homemade rolls!

So, Thanksgiving morning came. I blissfully slept in while Todd went in to the hospital around 7:00AM to make rounds. Being the sweet, wonderful, adoring man that he is, he brought breakfast home with him which I got enjoy while still in bed! We left our apartment a little before noon to venture the 70 miles to Temecula, California, for our 2:00PM dinner. The first hour went well with very little traffic, however that all came to a screeching halt around 1:00PM ~15 miles outside of Corona, California. Over the next TWO HOURS we moved a mere FOUR MILES! By 3:00PM and still 35 miles away from our final destination with no end of traffic in sight, we finally accepted that a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal would not be our fate this year and we turned around and headed for home, arriving back around 4:00PM. After drowning our sorrows in half-melted pie which had been in the backseat of our car for our 4 hour journey to no where, we strapped on our feed-bags and headed back to the trusty Stinky Rose in Beverly Hills for the 400-clove garlic turkey and mashed potatoes that we feasted on last year!

Thank goodness for satellite radio and good tunes to pass the time!

"See...this is my happy, driving...I mean sitting...in LA traffic face!"

All that matters is that we were able to spend the day TOGETHER!

Hope that you all had a wonderful, home-cooked turkey with homemade rolls and left overs kind of Thanksgiving Day.

Two more and counting before we are home for Thanksgiving for good!

The Magic Number "31"...

As most of you know, that last two birthdays have been quite traumatic for me. If asked my age and I know that you truly don't know...I will still respond "29"...very silly, kind of embarrassing, I know...sad but true! Maybe it is because I truly can't remember where my 20s went... aside from undergrad, medical school, residency.... Maybe it is because I can't justify feeling so old and tired...those 31+ hours in a row every 3 days aren't good for the mind, soul, or bags under your eyes.





However, I have a new-found love for the #31, my current age...

As of today, I have 31 months and 31 days left of residency...let the countdown begin!!!

Happy Birthday Crew!!!

Happy Birthday Crew! What a happy, sweet and fun little boy that you are! Crew never fails to greet me with a huge smile and laugh despite the months that may go inbetween us being able to see each other! I can't think of a better traveler than this little guy! His face just melts your heart! And who can resist him when he says "stop" and "dog"...

Happy 1st Birthday Crew!

We Love You!

Is this what you call family fun???

New lesson learned....
you can buy an airline ticket, get from Beverly Hills to Marina del Rey and a suitcase "packed", to the airport, on a plane and to Utah in less than 6 hours.....read on to see how I learned this the hard way...


Phone call from Laurel crying hysterically on Friday 10/24/08 afternoon around 3:30pm...
"I am really worried about Dad. His nurse found him in his office on the floor after trying to book a case and with slurred speech exclaiming he couldn't see and had arm weakness. Mom is taking him home right now, he thinks he just needs to sleep "IT" off (keep in mind this was all communicated by him with SLURRED speech)."

Me in the middle of the ICU trying to keep a patient alive..."WHAT??? WHAT??? GOING HOME??? He is having a STROKE....and at this point I am nearly having a stroke of my own....YOU AND MOM MUST GET HIM TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW...TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!!! GO TO THE ER....DEMAND STROKE PROTOCOL BE INITIATED!!!"

In my own tears and hysterics, quick phone call made to Mom who thankfully at this point had somehow convinced Dad that he was going to the hospital to be checked out after receiving a frantic phone call from Johnny prior to me getting through.

Quick phone call to Todd who is performing a procedure with the following message relayed to him by an intern...."Your wife is on the phone....I think something is wrong because she doesn't sound so good. Father having a stroke...maybe??? Leaving you, going to Utah, doesn't know when she will be back." Intern to me..."I guess I will have him call you when he is done..." Gee, thanks for being so helpful....glad that MD degree is serving you well...

While trying to check in at the airport, quick phone call to the ER doctor arranging Dad's care....
ER doc..."So, I understand you are a physician and want to talk to me. Can you tell my your training background so I know at what level I can communicate with you on so you can understand what is happening?"
Me..."general surgeon, subspecialty training in trauma and surgical critical care, currently helping to run a neuro/stroke ICU. I am sure I can understand anything you need to tell me....after all I did finish intern year and that is likely YOUR level of understanding...."
As you can imagine, the remainder of our conversation was quite contentious....lesson to you ER doctor for your future safety....don't mess with a red-headed female general surgeon while you are working her father up for a stroke...

Several patient in the ICU actively trying to die, two interns on call in the ICU....still not quite sure how the patients ultimately faired.....

As I started this blog, I got on the internet and had an airline ticket purchased in less than 5 minutes, somehow managed to drive the 20 miles from Beverly Hills to Marina del Rey all while sobbing on the phone to Grandma Char and Emily, somehow threw some sort of clothing assortment into a suitcase in under 10 minutes (as you all know that is an accomplishment in and of itself for me as I usually take days to finalize my packing prior to leaving town), called a cab to take me to the airport and was on a plane arriving in Utah and to Ogden Regional Medical Center in under 6 hours.

My family and I are truly blessed as Dad's symptoms quickly resolved and he improved! He was even able to make the rest of us laugh about the incident that night while visiting him in the hospital...what would we do without our precious Daddy???? A question I never again want to contemplate!!!

I am so eternally grateful for the family that I have been blessed with!!! I have absolutely the best parents, siblings, husband and extended family on the face of the earth!!!! My siblings and I were able to all quickly pull together providing support not only to Dad and Mom but also to each other...although I do not tell you all enough, I love you so much!!! Grandma was able to calm me down enough to prevent me from having my own trauma while trying to get to Utah in such a rush! Todd was so wonderful in sending me away not knowing when I would come home and calling as often as possible to offer his love and support from a distance as he was not able to leave and come to Utah with me! What a peaceful feeling I am left with at the overwhelming support I am surrounded by! I must also express my feelings of love and gratitude for the gospel, the priesthood and the worthy men who honor it!!!

Dad, don't you think there are better ways of gathering your family together for a weekend of "family fun"???