Paradigm shifting.

So residency is done.  We are moved.  While our move isn't totally complete (we have a few small totes, bicycles, etc...) to pick up later this week we are definitely IN the new house.

I subscribe to the theory that good things come in threes.  I also believe that life can be fairly succinctly divided into three phases over a variety of classifications.

The easiest is by age.  With an average lifespan approaching 90, ages 1-29 represent Early Life, ages 30-59 represent Middle Life, and of course 60-90 represents Late Life.  Notice the avoidance of using the word "Old".  Old is a state of mind and body.  I have seen plenty of people firmly in their Middle Life, or even late in their Early Life who I would classify as Old, and even a few people in Late Life who I would classify as young (Here's looking at you Grandma).  And for any of you wonder what 91+ is... well thats just bonus.

Another, more abstract way to view life in phases is by our education/occupation.  This one is a little more maleable, and many people shift back and forth between phases on occasion.  The first is Education, the second is Occupation, and the last is Retirement.

One can also use the life cycle to divide one's life.  Youth, Parenthood, and Grandparenthood.  One could add Great-Grandparenthood, but like the 90+ category that is more of a bonus (although it becomes more and more common as life expectancy climbs).

I am sure that there are many more ways to divide life.  But those come to mind as some of the most significant.  And even if they aren't the most significant overall they are certainly significant to me at this moment because I find myself readying to transition to the next phase in all three of those categories.  This year, I will turn 30, become a parent, and will have left Education for Occupation.  All within 2 months.  It is certainly a lot to get used to at once.  As a friend recently described it to me "Its like drinking life from a firehose".  And that is the truth.

Mind now this isn't bad.  In fact, it is all very very good.  I am loving life at the moment.  The completion of Residency is thrilling.  That place was wearing me thin.  Not down, but thin.

But still all of those transitions have taken me somewhat aback.  I find myself wistfully contemplating upon the stages which I am finishing up.  I have lived a blessed, AND charmed life.  Of that I have no doubt.  And thinking on the relative eternity of my progress to this point, and the memories contained within that progress I still find myself saddened by opportunities missed, and roads not taken.  By life expectancy 1/3 of me is gone.  By relativistic time its closer to 80%.  Thats a lot of time.  I hope I can make the most of the next stages.


Stay Healthy!

Finishing up.

So I now consider myself in the finishing up phase of residency.  Time to tie up loose ends and wrap everything up nice and pretty.

• Patients seen in clinic:  1540/1650, only 110 left.
• Continuity Deliveries:  10/10
• Total Deliveries:  40+/40
• Monographs:  6/6
• Home Visits:  2/2
• Circumcisions: 5+/5
• Step 3:  Passed
• Research:  Submitted
• Research Presentation: Finished but not presented.
• MNPS MCQ:  Passed.

That leaves only 110 patients and one 15 min presentation, which I have already prepared.  And two rotations to pass, but those won't be a problem.

We have a house in Monticello, are looking to have our house in Peoria sold soon.  Everything is wrapping up nicely.

No complaints. 

Stay Healthy!

So close, and so much left to do.

So as most of you know, I have anxiously headed toward the end of my residency since... oh... I don't know, around midway through first year. And now that the end is rapidly approaching I find myself wishing I had a little more time. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean IN residency, I just mean more time to get things done in the rest of my life.

For one, we sold our house. This has left us with a definite deadline in terms of moving. This is a great thing overall, we sold our house! Thanks to craigslist, it took only 6 days. Thats right, For Sale by Owner from list to completed offer in less than 1 week. Pretty awesome.

For second, we now have to find a place to live. This has proved to be a different kind of trial than what we were expecting to face. For those of you who don't know, we are moving to a small town in Central IL, around 5500 people in the town, and an area that serves around 13,000. The wife and I had expected to find ourselves short of options. Well, we were pleased to discover quite the opposite. Indeed, there have been a lot of GREAT options, at a great price with a great interest rate. So now we have the trial of trying to pick among many great options. 1st world problems to be sure, but it *does* have to get done, and now it has to be done sooner rather than later.

For Third, as many of you know we are expecting. So now in addition to a new job, new house, moving to a new town, and moving out of our old place, we have to get ready for our little guy. And yes, our little guy is a boy :) I felt him kick for the first time today, talk about wild.

On a completely different note, I have also started reading the "The Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. And it is awesome. It hasn't been since I read a Song of Ice and Fire that I have been as engrossed in a series. Roland Deschain of Gilead ftw. Hile gunslinger.

That is long enough for now, more as it comes.

Stay healthy!

Here we go!

FMS is done, and I move quickly towards the finish. The relief is palpable. My time here is soon finished, and I will get to move on to something oh so much bigger and better. The final step. The last leap. And it feels great.

More to come. I just had to share that FMS was over. In fact, it has been over for several days now, and every day has been better than the last. Lets see how long that can last, and how much goodness I can pack into the rest of Residency. My guess... a lot!

Stay healthy!

Family Medicine Service

So here I am again, in the Family Medicine Service. FMS. The second most dreaded of all of the services. And it is my last one. And I am over halfway done. So I am not complaining. Because every day done now sets me just that much closer. Closer not only to the end of all of my service months, which is already pretty awesome. But also closer to being done with residency as a whole. This is going to be a huge step!

And in fun news, I have been approved to work shifts at both Proctor and Methodist for moonlighting. I am super excited about this. Its a chance to make some extra cash, and to get some valuable experience. It will mean working a few weekends, which is going to be a bummer, but at least I will be making extra cash. I really do believe however that the greater part of the benefit is the experience. I get to act as an independent physician. This may seem like no big deal to many of you. Especially when compared to the cash. But this is huge. We are talking about the first time in my entire life that I have been able to work without being under the direct supervision of another person in a similar but supervisory position. Alllll the way back to the DQ. I worked grill there, and my manager also worked the grill. At Lil' Porgy's I prepped food, and the manager's and owners did the same, and oversaw me. At Augie in Res Life my supervisors were ARD's, or Assistant Resident Directors... themselves former Community Advisors who also did CA work. Even at Elliott Aviation I worked under other receptionists. Literally, EVERY job I have ever had, I have never been "on top". Of course this has been especially true through Medical School and Residency. It makes a lot of sense with Medicine... new students and new doctors HAVE to be supervised because a mistake could be so dangerous.

But finally... FINALLY I get to work on my own. Its an almost surreal feeling. And somewhat frightening. I have full confidence that I will do a good job, but it would be a lie if I said there wasn't some comfort in having an attending there to bounce questions off of. But for every iota of fright, there is an abundance of excitement. Its going to be AWESOME. I have dreamed of this moment for 24 years. Since I was old enough to dream of being anything I have dreamed of this. And while it isn't the end, it is a taste of the end. It is the first glimmer of the finish of this long road, and the beginning of another, I believe, better road.

Its going to be awesome.

Stay Healthy.

And pray for my former patient Mr. P.. He was recently diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of Cancer. He and his wife, and their Church community can use all the prayers they can get.

I recently heard a song that really struck me. The tune was the first thing that really hooked me, but as I listened to the words it dug at me more and more. I suppose in that form it is good art, because that is the core of art. Normally not a huge Puscifer fan, I will grant them this victory over me.

"Nature, nurture, heaven and home
Sum of all and by them driven
To conquer every mountain shown
But have never crossed the river
Braved the forest braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own
Yet I'm helpless by the river

Angel, angel what have I done?
I've faced the quakes the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?

Pay no mind to the battles you've won
It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle
Open your heart and hands my son
Or you'll never make it over the river
It'll take a lot more that words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river"

In particular the opening lines, Nature, Nurture, Heaven and Home. Sum of all, and by them driven.

I can apply these words to myself because I think in some ways I have felt that I have always treaded water. Even as I have moved ever forward through life, towards my goal to be a doctor, a man, a friend, a husband and a father I have always had trouble crossing the river. Facing oneself and coming to terms with the weakest part of oneself is often a river we fail to cross. Puscifer front man Maynard James Keegan has often flirted with religious themes. And while that might not have been his intention in this song, I certainly took it that way. Because while I may not be able to cross that river, I certainly believe that hand in hand with my creator it is something I fill be able to face.

Pretty awesome song. Worth a listen.

Humbling River

Stay healthy.

Winter is here.

Our first real snow of the year was yesterday, and it is still blowing around today. In all honesty it was somewhat refreshing. Please, don't be mistaken. Snow sucks. And seeing all of this white stuff was enough to make me seriously consider south Texas. But the change of seasons can be nice. And in an effort not to break the 11th commandment I am trying to look on the bright side. This cold will only make the summer seem that much nicer. So there is that.

I have finished up Dermatology today. It was a great month long rotation. Gave me some serious procedure time. Resections, freezes, etc. I am much more comfortable with these things than I had been before the rotation. And since this is bread and butter kind of stuff, I am pumped to have that learning behind me as I move forward towards Monticello. Now on to Urology. I will be working with one of the local Uro's here in Peoria. I am pumped about the possibility of learning how to perform vasectomies. That skill would be something I could carry forward to provide a local service to my patient's in Monticello, as well as make some extra money. And they don't take that long at all! I am pretty sure I would have to attend a certification conference to actually get cleared for it, but learning the procedure is the first step. Should be a good time. Two weeks of Uro and then off to another 2 weeks of Ortho. Those two weeks will hopefully help me shore up my injection procedures. All very exciting!

More fun to come, and only one more FMS block to go.

Stay Healthy!

2012 has arrived.

The Holidays are over. 2012 is here. It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks. I went from FMS, to Vacation, from an empty house to a full house, and then back to an empty house again. An old year is gone, and a new year has come.

Mandi and I rang in the new year at my friend Matt's place in Bloomington. It was nice to see some of the MSHS gents again. It had been a while. I gave my beautiful wife the appropriate new-years smooch and called it good to go. We slept in today, rested on the couch, watched the Bears win (BEAR DOWN!) and are going to have some Lasagna for dinner. If the rest of the year follows in the fashion of today, it should be good.

Oh, and also. Its MY year. Booyah. For those of you who don't know Mandi and I have devised a system for deciding the age old Husband/Wife quandry of "who gets the last bite of dessert?". Like many couples, we often split a dessert. But when a treat is split, there comes a point where there is always a last bite to be had. In an effort to avoid nasty competition over this bite, or bitterness over someone getting it more often, Mandi and I decided that the fairest way to do it was to alternate years. She was born on an odd numbered year, myself on an even numbered year. As such on the odd numbered years SHE will get the last bite. And on the even numbered years I will get the last bite. Well suckers, its 2012. And that makes it my year! WHOO HOO!

2012 offers the promise of much more than last bites. 2012 is a big year. A huge year really. This is the year that I finish residency. This is the year I become board certified. This is the year where I realize a dream that is 20 years in the making. I start medical practice in Monticello in June. This is the year in which my oldest, and most favorite RP group is to be given new life. This is the year Mandi and I's marriage turns 5 years old. This is a year of new beginnings. For the first time since High School I will live within 50 minutes of all of my close High School Friends. For the first time in my life I will be in a place of financial stability and true independence. For the very first time in my life I will have no "next step" professionally looming at me around the corner.

And that is only that which I am aware of. Life has a habit of throwing curve balls, fast balls, and knuckle balls. Life as the QB rarely connects with the receiver you called the play for. Life can sometimes check you right up against the glass. It should be interesting to see what else comes at Mandi and I. Needless to say, updates will be forthcoming as events unfold.

Stay Healthy!