Weekending!

This weekend was low-key and pretty uneventful. I didn't get done with surgery until 6:30 Friday night and went straight to my mom's for dinner. Then it was home to study, snuggle with my furry girl, and wait up attempt to wait up for my husband who has been out of town all week for work. His flight got delayed and he didn't end up getting home until super later. Being that I fell asleep at 9:30 [grandma status], I was not waiting for him at the door when he got home… bad wife!

Proof that our 75lb dog literally thinks she is human. She lays ON TOP of me like a big baby… and I would be lying if I said I didn't love it ;)

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to study for my surgery end of rotation exam that's on Thursday. I am super nervous and have no idea what to expect, being that they could possibly ask me about any surgery on any part of the body… yikes! I took a quick study break for a gym date with hubs.
My in-laws and SIL came to town for dinner because we haven't really seen them since Christmas. It was fun to have drinks and a yummy dinner and catch up with our family! I chose shrimp & grits for my meal and a pineapple smash cocktail which were both super delicious!

Sunday morning I was up bright and early once again to squeeze in a few hours of studying before church. After church it was a quick lunch, gym date with hubs, then this was my view for the remainder of the day:

I can't believe I only have 3 days left of my surgery rotation!! It has FLOWN by and I have enjoyed it much more than I thought I would! However, I am super excited about starting my OB/GYN rotation next week and I hope lots of women are getting ready to pop babies out just in time for me :) Happy Monday!

Perspective

[please excuse me while I spill my heart out for a second…]

As I said in my last post, I am currently on my surgery rotation. It has been a huge learning experience, and for that I am grateful! One thing that has been exceptionally hard is dealing with the big, ugly C word: cancer. In just one clinic day my overseeing physician and I had to tell FOUR people they had colon cancer. And one man was only 37. That is unheard of! Then a few days later we did 5 mastectomies on women fighting breast cancer.

I had never been part of a team to deliver this kind of news until recently. How can you walk into a room and tell someone their life will never be the same, read them statistics about survival rates, give them treatment options based on their cancer stage, then go about your day as if nothing has happened? I am too emotional for this! My doctor explained to me that this part of medicine is an art, and it takes time and experience before you can separate yourself from the emotional aspect of it.

As I watched a 43 year old woman enter our operating room, knowing that she would soon be undergoing a double mastectomy, I couldn't help but get a little choked up. Breast cancer hits close to home. I wanted to sit down with this lady and tell her I was praying for her and that she wouldn't be alone during surgery, but knowing that I was now part of the "surgery team" I just laid my hand on her shoulder and told her that we would take very good care of her. To surgeons she was just another slot in a packed schedule that day. To me, she was a person full of fear, questions, and anxiety.

I hope that with experience I can learn to deliver bad news with grace and compassion but I also hope that I never get so caught up in medicine that I forget that patients are people with the same feelings that I experience. I pray that I never lose my emotion when treating patients, because emotion means that I am relating to my patients.

Moral of the story: I am going to be an emotional wreck when I start my pediatrics rotation!

My poor blog!

Happy Monday, friends!

My poor blog has been totally ignored for the past month-ish. At the beginning of December I was slammed with studying for finals, decorating for Christmas, etc. I decided that I wanted to try to cut back on social media and truly soak up my first married Christmas, and that is exactly what I did! Then New Years came, our first anniversary, I started rotations for PA school, and life happened. And before I knew it, it has been embarrassingly too long without giving this blog some attention. So I apologize, but it was a much needed break for me to re-charge!

You see, I never intended for this blog to be an added stressor to my life, and that's what it had started to become. I don't want anything to take away time from my husband and my family. I decided I needed to step back and focus on what really matters. Spending 15 hours in the operating room and trying to be somewhat sane when I get home to my husband does not allow time for thoughtful blog posts. However, I have decided to just do my best with this little space of mine. I will write when I have time, and I will not get disappointed when I don't have time.

This is what I have been up to in pictures:

We had our PA school pinning ceremony which marked our transition out of the didactic phase and into clinicals!

We spent much needed time as a little family over my Christmas break sans studying. I spent far too many hours on the couch watching HGTV with a glass of wine in hand.

We spent our first married Christmas with both of our families. It was SO much fun to start our own traditions! We both looove Christmas. We spent Christmas eve and Christmas morning with my family. We got to watch our niece open all her Santa presents. She was so excited, it was adorable! Then we drove the 45 minutes to my in-laws and spent Christmas night with them and G's huge family. It worked out perfectly!

 On December 28, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. I cannot believe it has already been a year! We took a short getaway to the beach where we enjoyed lazy time together and reflected on the past year. I truly hit jackpot with my hubs. He only gets better every day. People say the first year is the hardest and if that is true, we will be just fine! I love that man more than words.

 We found out that we are going to be having a NEPHEW in June!!!! Excited is a understatement!

I started my first rotation: surgery! It has been such a great experience with some loooong days. I have truly enjoyed it but I don't think this is the field I want to work in.

Thanks for being patient with me while I took my blog-cation. Hope you have a great week!!