24 December 2005

Happy Holidays!! It's time for the highlights of 2005.

The year got off to a shaky start (as far as football is concerned). Crystal and I made our third straight bowl game when LSU played Iowa in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. However, LSU managed to make a 4th Quarter comeback, only to lose the game on the last play as time expired. It was a short trip, since we flew in that morning and flew out that evening.

The Senior Bowl is played in Mobile every year, usually around the last week in January. The local LSU Alumni chapter schedules a dinner event for the LSU seniors participating in the game. Crystal and I attended this and had the opportunity to meet the players (and get autographs). So I'm pictured here with my "favorite" cornerback Corey Webster (to be honest, I can't think of any other LSU player that I've verbally abused more than him) and Crystal with Marcus Spears.

For Mardi Gras, Crystal and I had been invited to attend the "Bacchus Brunch" on the Sunday morning prior to the evening parade. The food and music is fantastic, and the celebrity king makes an entrance while tossing doubloons. Then he addresses the crowd and does some photo-ops. The king for 2005 was none other than Sean Astin (most recently from the "Lord of the Rings", most notably as "Rudy", but always one of the "Goonies" as far as I am concerned). Anyway, Crystal and some of the other ladies at our table got close enough for a quick shot.

I attended the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in Washington, DC, in February. Columnist Dave Barry was the guest speaker, and he's as funny in person as his columns are in print. Outside of the meeting and academic sessions, I spent some time visiting the memorials and museums. I was very impressed with the World War II Memorial near the Reflecting Pool. The Museum of American History also had an exhibit regarding the history of "Americans at War".

My final rotation with the Sports Medicine service was completed in March. During that time, I finalized my plans for a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction (mostly hip and knee replacements). I was accepted to a fellowship program in Tampa with the Florida Orthopaedic Institute. The fellowship begins in August 2006 and lasts for one year. During residency, I've had the opportunity to perform numerous initial hip and knee replacements. Revision joint replacement surgery tends to be more complicated (and more interesting). The fellowship will give me a much broader exposure to surgical techniques and implant designs.

My rotation in Foot/Ankle Surgery was in Birmingham for the next three months. Living accomodations were located near the campus of UAB. Needless to say, I returned home to Mobile nearly every weekend. The first portion of the rotation was at HealthSouth, but due to the financial troubles associated with that institution, the rotation shifted to Baptist-Montclair.

I was able to spend another pre-Memorial Day vacation at Seaside, FL. It's beginning to become a tradition (thanks to Matt and Emily) to get some R & R on the beach before it gets too crowded with summer vacationers (and work gets busy with trauma).

Another chance to travel (my first time to the Pacific Ocean) came in June at the end of my Birmingham rotation. I attended the American Orthopaedic Association meeting in Huntington Beach, CA. The first part of the meeting was for residents, followed by the general meeting and academic presentations. Needless to say, I got hooked on Sudoku during this meeting. I had planned on taking surfing lessons, but just didn't get the time to do so. I did spend some time outside the resort at the beach (sunny and cool weather as expected).

Upon return to Mobile, I began my rotation on trauma as the chief resident. Things were fairly busy as they usually are, but they got worse as the hurricanes began to hit the gulf coast. For Hurricane Dennis, I was called into the hospital on that morning and really didn't have much to do (I didn't even have to stay in-house overnight). For Hurricane Katrina, I was able to evacuate to Birmingham for the storm (Crystal was in Colorado visiting her friend Brie, so I had to take care of Gibson), but returned to Mobile afterwards. We didn't get many transfers from MS or LA, so early on our patients were mostly locals injured during the clean-up. Eventually, we began to see patients that were awaiting surgeries at the VA in New Orleans and other non-operational hospitals, so business gradually increased. Luckily, since Hurricane Ivan had cleared my yard last year, Katrina really didn't affect much at the house.

Going to football games was delayed due to the hurricanes, so my first game this season was an away game. It was my first time to attend a game at Auburn, where I watched Auburn vs. MS State. You are probably asking why I was at that game, and here's the reason: Susan is a MS State fan (since she is from Starkville). I met Susan while in Birmingham after the hospital switch (she's a CRNA). We didn't start dating until I had returned to Mobile, but everything is going quite well and we're both very happy to see each other whenever possible. I travelled to Starkville and met her family (and also managed to see LSU play MS State).

Fall Break at LSU gives us another opportunity to return to Seaside (the weather is still warm enough to enjoy the beach). This was right at the end of my three months on trauma, so it was a much needed mini-vacation.

I had another course to attend in October regarding management of amputations and prosthetics. This was in Dallas, so this gave me the chance to have Susan meet my parents (yeah, I decided to drive for this one so we could leave Dallas and get to Baton Rouge for the LSU vs. Auburn game). Susan was able to see one of her friends while I was at the course. On our way to Baton Rouge, we visited briefly with Danielle and Paul in Shreveport. This picture was taken at home in West Monroe.

My parents are in town for Christmas, and we'll be heading to Atlanta next week for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Susan will be joining us for the game as well. Hopefully the Tigers will play better in the Georgia Dome than they did earlier this month.

As for next year, I'll be back on the trauma rotation for the next three months, followed by a rotation with the spine surgeons in private practice. I have upcoming courses with trips to Vail, Dallas (Susan's friend is getting married), San Antonio, and Chicago (twice - once for a review course and then for my written board test in July). Then I'll be moving to Tampa for the fellowship. I'll begin hunting for a "real job" sometime this spring as well.

So here's my most recent photo, taken today as I am finishing this letter. I hope that everybody is doing well and has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

That's all folks!! Please e-mail me or give me a call (251-716-3710) when you find the time - and send photos if you have them. Please reply with your current contact information (I'm updating my address book). Feel free to forward this web address to anyone you know who might be interested.

Take care.

Jared
jjpatt AT hotmail DOT com