Off the Sauce

My student and I finished a 2 day stretch at the hospital where we induced a lady for preeclampsia, and ended up doing a C-Section because the baby was face up and just wouldn't fit.  I was bummed to give up the birth, but Carla was thrilled with all the hours she got to take credit for.  Students suck.

As if all the waiting at the hospital wasn't bad enough, my heart skipped beats every few minutes the entire day yesterday.  I reviewed in my mind several things that can cause heart arrhythmias and decided that for my own comfort and safety, I should probably lay off the Diet Dr Pepper for the remainder of the day.  I made the decision by 2 pm after I had already consumed at least 100 ounces of the delicious elixir.

I didn't get home until about 1 am this morning and my heart was still wigging out.  Jared tried feeling the skips with his hand on my chest since my stethoscope was at my office.  I decided not to tell him he probably wouldn't be able to feel the skips, because his hand was touching my left breast, giving me a much needed thrill.  Unfortunately, he gave up feeling me up after five minutes saying, "I can't feel the skips from your chest."  Well duh!

As I laid there at 3 am, still unable to sleep, in part because I was obsessing about my skipping heart, I decided I'd lay off the sauce (caffeine in Diet Dr Pepper) and if the skipping didn't stop by Tuesday, I'd go see Internal Medicine before my exodus on Friday.  I've been off the sauce for about a day and a half and the skipping has stopped.  I considered restarting the habit tonight but drank water instead:

Do you know what water tastes like?  NOT DIET DR PEPPER!  What am I supposed to do now?  I hated those skipping beats, but I hate not drinking Diet Dr Pepper!  I gotta find a new bad habit fast.  I'd be perfect without it and I don't want anyone to feel badly about their inadequacies when hanging around me.  Anyone have any suggestions?...