Crazy

We are wrapping up our 6 weeks of craziness (I mean, it's sort of regular for residency, but just like Wenckebach heart block, described as "regularly irregular", it doesn't make it normal. Or effective).  

As a tangential thought, have I been out to lunch for some time now? Last year when we went through George's interview process for full time, regular ol' doctor positions, it really hit me. You know. He'll be a doctor. (Forgive me. He is already, but I forget). I mean the lifestyle of this chosen profession. You know. There will be patients. There will be patients admitting to the hospital for acute illness, babies born at any hour day or night, and clinic notes, and extended office hours. All of this sort of crashed down on me. Like our current situation wasn't exactly just practice. Slightly more magnified during residency, but all the same, it was the way it was. Not just hazing. Not just for the fun of it. True to life stuff (or so I'm told...we're not out of the woods yet). And family medicine doctors are supposed to have a "higher quality of life" than other specialities. (Shh. I realize that's a loaded statement, but if we're talking about time spent with family, I think it would be difficult to dispute). The point is, it hit me. My favorite panicky inquiry of those post-residency is "it gets better, right?! it better be better..."

So back to the 6 weeks.

2 weeks of George being in Honduras, 4 weeks of George in the USA...MIA in the MICU. Overnight call at the hospital included. And here we are on his LAST NIGHT OF CALL for the rotation. And, quite possibly, his residency. (Ok, there are still the miscellaneous long calls scheduled -- see why I keep asking? there's always hidden call somewhere. People get sick on holidays, weekends, and in the middle of the night for crying out loud). Just when I was really feeling down (sometimes--on this blog especially--no news is not necessarily good news...) and thinking plain old "this sucks." Ever think that depression might be a normal response to circumstances? (I digress, but a while back when I was researching post-partum depression, suggestions for coping were like "take time for yourself, be sure you are getting enough sleep, and eat well and exercise" And I was thinking, "good plan." (too heavy on the sarcasm?)

Well...to go out with a bang...we've had the stomach bug all week. The one that causes poor little children to vomit in their beds in the middle of the night, lie feverishly chilly under coats and blankets while we've had the warmest weather of spring visit our area, and of course, the dreaded river of poo. I won't go into detail. Every parent knows what I'm talking about when you start the diaper change with the shoes. Not yet a parent? Might be time to beef up the birth control. TMI? ok.

6 weeks. Gee, what else has been going on for 6 weeks? That's right. LENT.
(God and his sense of humor would laugh like this right about now... MWUAH HA HA)

In all seriousness, I find the parallelism to be fairly profound. I've been experiencing my own wilderness in the desert. And, yes, I realize there are others out there who "have it worse than me" (ya know, just for future reference, that rarely helps me feel better).

6 weeks of Lent.
This year, for me, it felt a little more like Catholic new years resolutions.
1. I really like our Church, I wanted to get to know more people there, so I joined a Moms group Connections (like bible study). The thing is, they meet Monday mornings. It's a preschool morning. This sacrifice (personal time, anyone?) was actually tougher than I thought. But I have enjoyed the discussions and the new perspective. Wait a minute, I said discussions...that's right. Henry wasn't there to constantly interrupt!

2. Swimming lessons at the YMCA. That's right, no more house arrest after the children are in bed. Monday nights, 7:45pm me at the pool. I was learning how to swim. Though I have a basic understanding of what that means from my handful of childhood lessons, this is like face in the water, back and forth stuff. I'm amazed at how hard it is. I'm amazed at how much water I've choked on. I'm also amazed at how much improvement I've made in so little time.

Congratulations! You've made it to the end of the blog post. If you're still reading and have a coherent thought in your head, you're doing better than I am with my flight of ideas. Anyone know a good doctor to sign the commitment papers? Just kidding.  I do know a good doctor.  And just like everyone else, I have to make an appointment to see him!

Whatever doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? And even if it does kill us, we are an Easter people (life after death!).

Whew. And now I'm off to be sure that I'm getting "enough sleep."