Brain Dump

Earlier today I was just driving between errands and thinking, "Yes! If Trent chooses a residency that is only 3 years long, we could be DONE in less than 5 years!" And then I kind of laughed at myself because being excited about ONLY having 5 years left just seems a little absurd, doesn't it? And that would only be if he chose something like family med or internal med with no further specialization.  Trent doesn't know what he wants to do yet, and I won't hold it against him if he wants to do something that takes longer than 3 years for a residency.

I was also thinking about how a couple of people have asked me recently how having him in med school has been, and I've found myself answering that it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, so far.  I think that is true in and of itself, but I am realizing that I believe that is in part because the "horrors" of medical school for me are the things that will be happening soon, not the studying and such that is behind him now.  Sure, he studied hard, and especially in the month or two leading up to boards, he didn't come home until a few hours after the kids were in bed every night, but he would come home and want to watch a show with me to unwind before bed.  I think it will be more taxing on everyone when he, rather than spending 12 hours a day in a library, is spending 12 hours a day on his feet working physically, mentally exhausting shifts, not to mention night shifts, call, etc. I don't love when he is not home at night. And I DO love when he can come home and help with dinner time and bedtime with the boys. So I think it will be hard. Well, I guess I know it will.

We were glancing at a residency database the other night, just to get ideas of basic things like where, how long, how much, etc. for any number of different specialties and locations. Of course the hours for residencies are crazy.  The ones we saw listed ranged from 52 to 78 hours a week.  And from what I hear, there is supposedly a rule about not being able to work more than 80 hrs a week, but a lot of places don't enforce it, or if they do it's like a you keep track of it yourself kind of thing...and of course the measly residents don't want to look like they are the ones trying to get out of work so a lot of people don't even bring it up. I was thinking "Poor Trent" as we looked at it, and then today I realized that I'll be working around the clock as well, since he either won't be here to help or will be needing to sleep before the next shift. I already run short on patience on a regular basis and think, "Dang it, I want to have more kids, but the two I have are making me feel like a crazy person!". So, I think I might need a brain transplant in preparation for residency. More realistically a loooooooooooooooooot of prayer.

Anyway, it's an exciting road though. I'm so proud of Trent already for all of his hard work, and all of his potential.  He is so kind and smart that I don't think it would be possible for him to be a bad doctor. I love that man. I sometimes tell him, "I never thought I would be married to a doctor!" to which he responds that I'm not yet. ;) Soon enough! Sometimes 5 or so years seems like forever, but other times it feels like it will fly by.