​Those comments might demonstrate my rather plebeian upbringing, but bear with me.

#1) Groups of ladies going out. They all are dressed the same. (dress/mini and wedges and same exact hairdo) Kind of strange.

#2) Back fat is apparently something to be very proud of. And flaunt.

#3) Back hair is apparently something to be very proud of. And flaunt. (dude, please, just…a shirt, that's all I ask)

#4) Trucks with mostly naked people depicted on them, driving up and down the strip. Marketing must work, or they wouldn't be clogging up 6 lanes of traffic with these rolling, gas-guzzling billboards.

So as an author, I kind of fell in love with the hero, Peter Blackstone, from my first novel Immortal Flame. "Who wouldn't" (based on a great review, thanks, ESR Reviews!) fall in love with him?

For the record, I am happily married to a sweet and funny guy. So anything I share presumes a non-martial status prior to aforementioned dating situation….

Here's why I would date Peter Blackstone:

#1) Such intense eyes

#2) Sacrifice for a woman he loves (twice)

#3) Single-minded focus on his work, which becomes single-minded focus on the woman he loves. Yum.

#4) Hard, corded muscles ("I hate nice, toned muscles," said no red-blooded woman, ever.)

#5) That sensitive spot he has for children

#6) He's protective and powerful but recognizes Allie's own strengths

#7) Amazing, mind-blowing, powerful…conversation. Yeah. Please pass the ice water.

#8) Even when he's hurting (physically or emotionally), he keeps fighting for his woman

#9) Rises above the evil that defines him to become something much more

#10) Ok, I secretly wish I were Allie. (Darn it, I'm just not that awesome and cool.)

Please feel free to add any other reasons of your own. :)

​I couldn't stop with the first list. I kept thinking of more...

#1) "Double header" = I use this term when doing both an upper GI endoscopy along with a colonoscopy. (Don't worry, we use different scopes!) The scopes are often referred to as "roto-rooters". (In some places, the GI docs are called "roto-rooters" -- it's probably a regional vernacular difference.)

#2) "Donorcycle" = Trauma patients who were riding a motorcycle when they had the accident. Sometimes these patients are described as "ART", assuming room temperature….

#3) "BOHICA" = Also not necessarily medical, but Bend Over Here It Comes Again describes many ER shifts. Many cluster-f$%#s in the office, on an Ob call shift. Anything.

#4) "Vaginal bypass" = C-section

#5) "CNS-QNS" = Central Nervous System - Quantity Not Sufficient. I use this term to describe bone-headed 21 year old males who rode on Donorcycles. 

​Ok, I'm about to spill secrets. Keys to the kingdom. Pull the curtain aside to reveal the wizard.

May I humbly present: abbreviations/slang terms I have used in training/practice for the past 15 years. Otherwise known as reason #2461 why I am going to hell.

Disclaimer full of way too much honesty: I enjoy taking care of (nearly all of) my patients. The work is (exhausting) rewarding. But sometimes docs have to insulate themselves from the boatloads of >crazy< and frustration and quite frankly, keep from going down the black hole of sadness that sometimes comes with the territory. And no, I'm not depressed, not in the least. But this warped sense of humor is what keeps me from reaching for zoloft….

#1) "Calorie overdose" = Mentioned in an irreverent dictation by a colleague who was up to his eyeballs in obese patients. I think my buddy finally cracked. He also got a reprimand for writing that phrase. Come on, everyone knows you never EVER put this stuff on paper.

#2) "Facultative anaerobe" = Patients who survive in a low-oxygen environment. Often seen in little old 3 pack/day smokers who believe that their end-stage COPD requiring 4 liters of O2 has "absolutely nothing" to do with their tobacco use. Often as O2 levels drop, confusion increases, as does levels of denial and general blame of the doctor not being able to fix the breathing problem.