Med school isn't hard, its life outside of it

At some point last weekend I was overcome by emotions. Its a mystery as to when these moments come and normally Billy is available, but he won't be every time and he wasn't on Friday night. I've come to realize when he's not around I'm like a lost puppy. He's always there for me and I just sat there and cried. I have no idea why I cried, but planning ahead for my audition rotations and thinking about Residency is stressful. I called a fellow classmate who confirmed I'm not alone and that everyone is feeling on edge too. I mean I go to work, I do fine, I come home, I study for 5-6 hours, its no big deal, but the big deal is thinking about next year. Where do I want to go? Will I get into my first choice? Will I end up in Michigan? Will Billy come with me? Will I be able to handle Residency and being a supportive girlfriend? I try to tell Billy how supportive he's been to me, he doesn't believe me, but its so true. I don't know what he does but he sucks the stress out of me, he holds my hand and makes me relax. Just knowing he's close by is soothing. Later on Friday night when we met up, all he did was wrap his arms around me and kiss me and honestly I felt better. I stopped crying, I started to smile and life didn't seem too difficult to handle. While my relationship is growing stronger, I have been notiefied of the first divorce in my medical school class. Statistically speaking its the first of many. The Ebners boys don't have a good record but the girls do, so I pray God watches after me, my career, and my love life.

Patient Boyfriends

So I'm still 2 hours away from home but come back to ATL for the weekend. I'm in a family practice residency site for my FP rotation. Apparently I'm told I'm working like a Resident, I'm pretty independent and have a good idea whats up. Billy and I decided it was my rotation at Arrowhead that allowed me to gain confidence and independence.

This week I had an older 69 y/o male patient who was so sweet. He gave me the best compliants. I mean anyone who finds me beautiful after a 30 hour shift is my new best friend. Basically he wanted to marry me, now not for a second do I think he is serious but I'm enjoying my "boyfriend" patients. They're adorable. As far as my real boyfriend, I'm counting down on Friday to hop in my car and drive home. Billy has been so sweet lately. I'm always laughing, smiling, and having fun. This weekend I talked his ear off as to what I see in our future...I'm a planner, he's not, so its still a mystery as to what will happen.

An Away Rotation

So this month is family medicine....ugh. I'm 2 hours away from Atlanta so Sunday night I drive out here and return on Friday afternoon. The only reason I get Fri pm off is I'm on call Thursday night, so I'm basically up all night in the ER doing H&Ps for new admits. So far, its sick old people or young women in labor. I slept a whole 40 mins in a hospital bed with a bleached urine smelling thin sheet. Not ideal, but I did get a 40 min nap before a full morning of nephrology clinic.

I'm at a Residency site so I'm basically teamed up with a different Resident each day and occasionally an Attending. My first day was awesome, I felt smart. The second day was all cardiac patients so I felt dumb. The goal is each day I get smarter. The outpatient clinic ranges from old people with uncontrolled diabetes and HTN now in renal failure and rotten feet to little critters with rashes. I had one kid who had a glove fetish, it was scary.

As far as my living arrangements, I'm living in student housing. The apartment is "luxurous"- nice and clean, but LOUD. The interstate is behind my window so all day and night I hear cars zooming by. I also have a roommate from another school who gets up and does "stuff" in the kitchen for an hour. I have no idea what she does but I hear banging of the cabinets and dishes... for a whole hour each morning...i'm going insane. I then walk into the kitchen and it looks exactly the same....dishes scattered everywhere. Its hopeless. Basically I pray for Friday so I can drive home and be with Billy boy. I am studying a ton out here, but otherwise there is nothing exciting in rural Georgia.

The Emergency Room

So Feb I rotated in the ER, and it was fabulous. My first day was a trauma with a guy laughing because "it was just like tv". Yes, the doctor, medical student, and nurses all quickly gathered around the dude who feel off a 20 ft ladder to assess his injuries. He was ok. The rest of the day I assessed diarrhea, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, bloody noses, etc.

Shift Two was a "difficulty breather"..I was scrolling through everything I could remember about asthma on my way into the room. I was shocked when I approached a dude who had no blood pressure, his belly stuck out and was purple, and he could not breathe. I got scare he was going to die right in front of me....I ran and got my attending while rushing this guy to the CT and he lived...at least until the end of my shift. In fact, they all lived until the end of my shift, except one guy. Trauma- a 40 y/o male got hit by a car and died. Basically head trauma from no helmet. So kids wear your helmet. It was awful to explain to the family and now some little kiddies have no daddy.

The highlight of my month was suturing. I was a bit apprehensive when left to stitch some guy's face. Dude, that should be a plastics consult not a 3rd year medical student. I was floored when my attending said "Perfect". Still not sure if perfect for the ER or perfect as in I would let you stitch my face. Also, I sutured an ear together after a human bit it off at 3 am.