A (slight) moment of reprieve...

So my exam block ended last Wednesday, and to say that God "showed up AND showed out" would be a HUGE understatement. I am sooooooo happy with the results and so now I just have to keep the momentum going :-D Quiz next week and the next exam block will be the end of October...

Obviously, school has been monopolizing my time (as expected) but my Dad told me during the summer during one of his many moments in medical school wisdom-giving that "life still continues to go on even while you are in school...so don't forget that". Great advice, because it is so easy to get so wrapped up in the school life that you forget to stay abreast of current events or keep up with your family and friends....

In other news, Pumpkin seems like he is growing at lightening speed. His favorite phrase is "Oh nooo!" no matter what happens, or even if nothing happens at all, and he crinkles his face up with concern...Oh, and "here" while handing me something...even if his Dad is sitting there too...I guess Moms are the designated holders of their kid's belongings...haha. AND We have had over 3 successful potty episodes. He's not telling us if he has to go, but if we can catch him in the act we can get him to the potty in time...I'm very excited about this....

My favorite time with him is when we are on our way to school. We get to talk, sing songs, dance (his favorite past time), and play games in the car. When he gets to school, he looks at me with lunchbox in hand, waves, and says "Byeee!" or "Cya!". But he always runs back to give me a kiss (of course, I have to ask for it LOL)....so sweet :-D


The hubs is taking his new job by storm and I am so proud of him! We are so blessed :-D Hopefully I can update again before a month goes by...haha



Pumpkin Dancing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRv9ZrBQuzA

2 Weeks Down...

So as you can see my blogging time has become scarce...

I officially have almost two whole weeks of medical school under my belt AND a quiz that I think went well. Overall I feel really good :-) After the very relaxed orientation week, we hit the ground running. A lot of previous medical school students I have talked to in the past have equated the first weeks of medical school (and thereafter) like trying to take a drink of water from a fire hydrant - the fire hydrant being the immense amount of information that we are given in a short amount of time...nice analogy, huh?

Well, I get it now. Currently, we are taking cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, evidence based medicine & biostatistics, intro to clinical medicine, gross anatomy, and clinical problem solving. Classes usually go from 9AM-5PM, and anytime after that is studying until I can't look at another sheet of paper, sleep, and then I do it all over again... I got mad on Tuesday because it was just Tuesday - I didn't want anymore new information the rest of the week because I felt like we had enough, JOKES.... It's funny how slowly the week goes by now - more and more time for more stuff to learn in class, but the weekends feel shorter and shorter...LOL But honestly, although I am already REALLY sleepy, knee-deep in notes, and just living my life one test day at a time, I am so happy to be here and that makes a world of difference.

Pumpkin and the Hubs have been awesomely supportive. It makes my day when I walk in the door at night, and he runs up and says "hi!" with a big smile, I pick him up and when he puts his head on my shoulder, it melts away anything I could possibly be stressed about. Sidenote of clarification: the jumping in my arms story is about Pumpkin and not Hubs (lol)...

This week Pumpkin had a cough that resembled the croup episode he had earlier in the summer :-( It was so hard not to be the one to stay home with him and get up with him all night, but his "Da" took over and wouldn't let me do a thing because I "needed to sleep". It's so true that when one person in the family makes sacrifices for medical school, the rest of the family is making equal sacrifices. Now, more than ever, I have had to relax and acknowledge the fact that although I may try to, I cannot do everything, and I have an awesome support system to help (i.e. the Hubs and our families)...

One of the cool things about med school is everyday there is some specialty interest group (radiology, family med, etc.) or general interest group sponsoring lunch and all you have to do is listen to someone speak... Needless to say, I have been eating a ton of pizza...not so good for the "hot dr. mommy stay fit" plan, so I'm going to either work in some workout time (verdict is still out on when I would actually fit that "time" in) or I'm going to watch what I eat (which is so hard right now because study marathons make you soooo hungry and are so good for eating junk)...let you know how that goes :-/

I have this Monday off for Labor Day, and outside of an extra day to catch up on studying, I am really really really looking forward to spending time with my boys and sleeping :-)

He Wants It All...

I am trying to make sure I spend time with God everyday and not just on Sunday - usually in the morning before the craziness of the school day. There are certain songs that I can hear and it immediately sets the tone/environment for some good QT with God. I keep hearing this song on the radio "He Wants It All" that I absolutely love and I did a little research. It's about God walking through the world and calling His children to serve Him. All He wants is for us to let go of our personal motives and give Him our all... It hits close to home because I spent a lot of time this summer figuring out how to use my life as a sacrifice for God. You spend all this time stressing about what that means for you to give your all to God and what you may have to give up, but when you finally let go of doing things your way, the blessings begin to pour out and you realize that you didn't "lose" anything. In fact, it was the best decision you could have made.

The group is called Forever Jones and their story/testimony is amazing. Can't wait for their CD to come out :-D

There's a voice that cries out in the silence,
searching for heart that will love him,
longing for child that will give him their all,
give it all, he wants it all

And there's a God that walks over the earth,
he's searching for heart that is desperate,
And longing for child that will give him their all,
give it all, he wants it all

And he says, love me, love me with your whole heart
he wants it all today
serve me, serve me with your life now
he wants it all today
bow down, let go of your idols
he wants it all today (x3)
He wants it all

There's a God that walks over the earth,
he's searching for heart that is desperate,
longing for child that will give him their all,
give it all, he wants it all

And he says, love me, love me with your whole heart
he wants it all today
serve me, serve me with you life now
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
he wants it all today
bow down, let go of your idols
he wants it all today (x3)
He wants it

Oh oh oh, all of you, more of you
wants it all today oh oh oh
Today, today

he wants it all today, he wants is all today
so give it all

There's a voice that cries out in the silence,
searching for heart that will love him,
longing for child that will give him their all,
give it all

He wants it all...

One Week Down....

I now have my first week of medical school under my belt, and so far so good :-) They did a good job of easing us into everything...one of the highlights of the week was definitely our day in the simulation center - I learned how to do sutures, use an otoscope (we got to see a normal ear and an ear infection ear), ophthalmoscope, listen to heart sounds, and put a chest tube in a test dummy...I was so proud of myself!

Last night, the hubs and I went on our first date since Valentine's day and it was a lot of fun :-D Today we were reunited with the little one and when he saw us he let out a HUGE scream. It was the cutest ever. I missed him so much and I am so happy to have him back....

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For homework, we had to write a reflective essay on our first week of gross anatomy, and I think it sums up my most memorable experience this week and probably the semester:

Having the little organ donor heart on my driver’s license always made me feel like that was my way of leaving this earth and giving back one great final gift. However, as I begin my medical school education, I have gained an even better perspective on the selfless gift of our donor. Like those others who in death have given someone else a second chance at life through their vital organs, my donor is also giving the gift of life. He is giving life to my education and proficiency as a clinician. And most importantly, he is giving life to all of my future patients. It is through my donor that years from now I will draw on what I have learned during my time in gross anatomy.

This is the second time that I have had the opportunity to dissect a cadaver. I went into this experience with a pretty good idea of what to expect when we opened those stainless steel containers. I thought, like last year, I would focus on our task for the day and not the totality of the person on whom we were working. But during one of the moments in which I had handed off the scalpel to one of my group members, I began to look at the hands of our donor. His hands had a familiarity to them that took me beyond anatomy lab and led me to a trail of thoughts about who once held those hands lovingly, what children might have examined those big hands with curiosity, or who looked to those hands for support or strength. I realized that the word “cadaver”, although the correct term, did not do this man justice. He was not just “a cadaver”, but someone whom we would get to know very well in the coming months.

After our first week with our donor, I noticed that each lab session we approached him with increasing familiarity. The trepidation that we had as we began an external examination of the back of this stranger was soon turned into a respectful awe. Finding out his cause of death, bladder cancer, also added an element of self-disclosure – it was a piece of our donor’s story. Three days a week (at least) our wide-eyed group leans in close like sponges to soak in everything we can. Our donor allows us to delve into what was his most intimate and personal possession. In taking the time with our donor seriously, my group members and I are setting the stage for our medical education with some of the most unchanging fundamentals in a field that is ever evolving.

I have always been taught “to whom much is given, much is expected”. We now have a great responsibility, and I will spend the entirety of my career trying to repay his gift – by using the knowledge I have learned to improve the lives of my patients. I also feel like this is our donor’s opportunity to take back what the invasive and unyielding cancer tried to take from him. In the end it was him, and not the cancer, that determined the fate of his body. And in turn, our donor is training those who can help continue the fight to eradicate it. His decision to give an anatomical gift has reframed what I once defined to be a selfless act. He is a quintessential example of altruism and may he rest in peace.

White Coat Ceremony Weekend

This past weekend was awesome. My wonderful family all drove up to support me and this big life step and it was a great time. I get tearful thinking about it, because this is such a HUGE accomplishment that I know I couldn't have gotten to without God and the love and support of my family. I am so so so so blessed.

After the Dean of the medical school said a few words and introductions, the keynote speaker, a pediatrician, asked us "who will you be?". She said that people have been asking us "what will you be?" for years and we have said "doctor", but now it is time to take that further. What kind of person will we be? What kind of doctor will we be? Integrity, honesty, and respect were some of the themes that came up, and she closed with a quote from her favorite doctor - Dr. Seuss :-)

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go...

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!"

-Oh! The Places You'll Go

We were then "coated" (my pic even made the Indy paper!) and recited the physicians oath - promising to put others before ourselves and to use our knowledge for the improvement of humanity. After that I was inspired and ready to get down to business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday, we said our goodbyes as our loved ones returned to their respective homes. Pumpkin also went on a mini-vacay with Hubby's mom. I was so emotional when he left. He kept smiling and waving at us from his car seat saying, "byeee! byeee!" as they pulled off. I was an emotional mess...you would have thought he had never went somewhere without me before...LOL

To end the night, the Hubs and I went to our new favorite Indy spot and watched the sunset :-)

White Coat Ceremony - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

View this gallery at The Indianapolis Star: White Coat Ceremony

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Today was more orientation and our first anatomy lecture and lab. It was good :-D The rest of the week we are learning basic clinical skills along with anatomy lectures and lab, and next week we will jump into the regularly scheduled program...which means these posts will become a little more infrequent...LOL