I have been working on an autoethnography on chronic illness and physician identity. Thinking it could be turned into a full paper at some point But also I identify as a clinical research kind of person and it’s a little weird to have this on my researchgate?

I have obtained the goods.

I missed several doses of my 2.5mg (very low dose) pred, after getting a 100mg MTP bolus before RTX earlier in the week, and during a very stressful 103-hour work week. Ended up with what most likely was an adrenal crisis which fortunately I caught in time. Doctors can be very dumb patients.

Kicking off #LupusAwarenessMonth with a thyroid nodule aspiration tomorrow. People with SLE have a ~2x risk of developing thyroid cancer so it is a good idea to keep an eye on these nodules

Next month’s itinerary: 1. Return from vacation 2. Practice medicine on people 3. Have medicine practiced on me (inpatient rituximab twice + get sus nodule aspirated again because it still looks sus)

I am so done with surgery 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

Some random lady just randomly gave me a juice box she just bought as part a buy 1 get 1 free deal at familymart. Thank you random lady

I just filled in a PRO survey that started with: “I am a (choose one)” 1. Lupus patient 2. Physician 3. Nurse 4. Other

the chronically ill physician life is asking yourself “why am i sick” after THREE 28 hour shifts in ONE WEEK followed by a weekend conference 💅

Another 24h surg shift tomorrow. Better fuel tf up tonight bc there is a good chance that I will not be eating drinking or sleeping Probably go for a swim tonight too

Sitting in the hospital lobby after a 24h shift, hydrating while watching a random parrot swear…it’s a whole mood

The sorting hat has placed me into IM residency starting Aug, as expected. It’s making this mandatory surgery rotation that much more soul (and hip) crushing. It’s contributing to my eventual hip replacement I am sure. But the people on GS service are so nice.

Doing a panel on identity at the taiwan medical anthropology conference. First time submitting something based on personal experience & social science-y (vs. the PP posters at ACR). Steep learning curve & lowkey weirded out. The anthro people seem comfortable with self as a study subject though

Roommate is starting a project and we spent the night brainstorming outcomes and biases and getting them acquainted to EndNote. Who am I to say this but I’m starting to see why some folks enjoy being a mentor. And I’m both frightened and flattered to see a peer? write my bullshit down?? on paper???

The streets are empty. Nothing is open during LNY except the department stores So the entire populace of Greater Taipei just fit ourselves into the department stores. I bought a backpack yay

Threads is a good place to be. Not enough rheumatology content over there but the vibe is excellent

Finding it difficult to make time to consistently study AND do/consume research during residency. That said I do have the lofty goal of reading Harrison’s cover to cover in a couple of years

Taiwanese steak: It always starts with a sticky table, coke in a paper cup, and corn chowder slopped from a huge cauldron into a plastic bowl.

Literally the only garments that won’t create apocalyptic levels of static against my white coat are ugly ass hospital-issued scrubs I refuse to wash (or spend money on, at least for now) scrubs so it looks like I’ll be hoarding ugly ass hospital-issued scrubs

#ACR25 u asked

Well that was a shitty shift

Interesting

Our flight arrived at 5:10a s/p #ACR25 and my rheum is in clinic rn seeing his 14749373 pts

So I came in this morning through the south bldg at McCormick and instead of #ACR25 there was the National Funeral Directors Association.

Lounge showers are fully booked🥲 nice guy put me on the waiting list tho I hope I get to shower before this 15 hour flight

It went well 🥲 #ACR25

Sweet and salty and spicy all at once

🧇🍗🙌

Whoever is putting these masks at the ribbon station at #ACR25, thank you! I got one of mine chewed on by a puppy (so worth it tho) and didn’t bring enough extras and am fairly immunocompromised so this is much appreciated

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

PUPPIES PUPPIES PUPPIES #ACR25

Current mission: find @rheumcat.bsky.social! 🤣

I hope everyone would excuse my extreme awkwardness 🤣 this is the most socializing I’ve done in a very very long while

Wonderful #PatientPerspectives poster by @japan_rheu_vas on a low intensity strength training designed for patients with #RheumaticDisease. Ten simple 2-3 minute videos to prevent osteoporosis and improve mood/QoL!

I bought this stuffed Akita puppy onboard the Resort Shirakami train between Aomori and Akita. #ACR25 is her first conference. Don’t have a name yet but DORIS sounds good! 😉💜

Spotted on the shuttle: a truly frightening amount of birds convening on this rooftop

Patient presenter ribbon spotted! At what point does the number of #ACR25 ribbons become obnoxious? 😅 (Also decided to trade in the international attendee ribbon for the patient presenter one, because they’re both pink and my badge already says Taiwan)

#ACR25 Pre-conference day: I picked up my badge 1st thing in the morning and went to the aquarium then the planetarium then I went down to the Griffin MSI (great btw), went all the way up to the Skydeck and bought AirPods Pro 3’s then got calcium softgels for dad at Walgreens and then got chipotle

Day-0 of #ACR25: picking up the badge, exploring the city, and trying to figure out what kind of distance is walkable and what…isn’t They don’t have patient ribbons this year it seems🥺

CBP lady: “oh THAT conference huh. have a great time” International #ACR25 attendees are flooding ORD I guess.

it is a good time to have a gout attack mid-air

The flight I’m currently on contains probably 10% of all academic rheumatologists in Taiwan, give or take CBP people at O’Hare is about to get so sick of hearing about #ACR25

Not looking forward to the 15 hour flight but it’ll be a good time to work on the manuscript ngl

good stuff

After trying a new brand of pineapple cakes and deciding that they are inferior to what Sunny Hills offers I have again ordered The Good Stuff (pineapple cakes, apple cakes) from them for #ACR25

I have my schedule all mapped out! 💚- check chicago out 💜- ACR sessions 💛- I’ll have to talk to people 🩵- free food lol ❤️- presentation 😵

Apparently my own rheumatologist will also be at #ACR25. Wondering if he’s going to come to my session and, if so, whether he think it’s trippy to see his patient present an abstract 🤣

#ACR25 things I did today: 1. Zoom rehearsals 2. Reserving spots at the aquarium etc using Chicago CityPass 3. Locating the nearest Trader Joe’s because friends & family be wanting The Goods* *pastel totes🙃

They just killed NHANES. Every US public health student learns about this study. It’s given us all sorts of important knowledge about the health of Americans and they just ended it.

Radiology rotation is almost like a mini sabbatical! All I do is give CT contrast, pull out sheaths, make sure no one dies in the MRI suites, and procrastinate on the 50 reports I’ll have to complete by the end of the month.