January 19, 2022

by drplasticpicker

Yesterday was one of those days that I was reminded that it’s so important to know yourself and your passions – and to be unequivocal about it. There were so many meetings yesterday, places that the HMO machinery was telling me to be. There was no one person, but the collective complicated management machinery had created a list of meetings that was impossible for me to attend everything. Interviewing new candidates for our department, pediatric metric meetings, education meetings, coalition meetings – not to mention the normal climate work that I usually do. But yesterday even in the haze of having watched more Korean dramas, I was very unequivacol in what I needed to get done. I sent emails saying I needed to skip certain meetings, and focused on what needed to be done yesterday. And somehow, those projects that surround topics that I unequivocally love – happened. They are done.

I unequivocally talked to my sister. I saw her hug her puppy on facetime. I asked about my brother-in-law’s allergies, and caught up on their lives. I unequivocally was a big sister yesterday. We laughed and told eachother stories and that was wonderful.

I also unequivocally love wetlands. I continued to plug through the CATCH grant application and think about the rewild mission bay collaboration. It’s far from done, but it’s getting there. I reached out for some help, and I’ll work on more of it today.

I am unequivocally drinking more water just because I made this completely upcycled water station in my bathroom. I now make sure to drink filtered water. I brush my gums more, take my vitamin, and hydrate at night because I have this water station there. This is my new thing I’m recommending to my patients and recommended to my sister who made me the reusable water bottle that is the center piece of my water station.

And I unequivocally care about health care disparities and other pediatricians. All pediatricians are super-heros and the two that I am co-presenting with today included. It was so joyful to work with them to bring this project across the finish line. Today is the first time that our department initiated it’s own MOC4 and it’s on flu vaccine equity. There were multiple obstacles thrown at us but when three people care about something, that unequivocal passion propels one to complete this project. It’s going to launch today, and it was a big thing for me. One of my friends who I’ve had a complicated relationships with knows me. I tend to downplay my contributions sometimes, but she reminded me that I do good work in this space and that I’m part of the solution too!

It’s Dr. Plastic Picker and I’m still working on climate and health, and vaccines and health equity. I have not been blogging as much but I return to this space when I need to sort out my thoughts. I really just wanted to show you the absolutely funny picture I included at the beginning of the blog.

I unequivocally love Mr. Plastic Picker, and he was having a cr@ppy day yesterday at work when he got home was out of sorts. And I unequivocally made him laugh when I pointed out that the bilateral leg MRI he was looking at , looked like a face.