The Intern

So how is the intern?  Thank you for asking.  He is working...a lot.  The first six weeks of residency he worked in the ER.  He learned that he doesn't like the ER at all, but he liked the schedule.  He did shift work, so after he put in 12 hours, he left with another doctor in charge.  He only missed one Sunday and it was a blessing for our family to not have him gone ALL the time, especially after coming out of having him home for 2 1/2 months.

But now he is working wards.  I'm not exactly sure of the definition of "wards," but it means that he is taking care of patients that are admitted into the hospital.  And he stays until the work is done.  He knew by Wednesday that he was going to get over 80 hours logged (the law says residents can't work over 80 hours a week) so he puts in 15+ hour days and then works from home.  (He worked from our computer, so I didn't get any Photoshop done, but I'm not bitter about it. Seriously, I'm not.)

But, he still loves it.  It's crazy and stressful and he feels inadequate all the time.  And he hates telling people that they are going to die.  But he loves trying to help people.  He loves helping people leave the hospital, with the tools they need to feel better or at least cope with their situation.  And it will get easier as he gets faster at charting and is more familiar with the computer systems.  

And how am I doing?  Thank you for asking.  I've adjusted my attitude, and I am doing really well.  One day last week Jonathan told me he was going to be home early, which I thought was around 2 pm.  So in my head I made plans.  When he came home, I was going to run errands and go shopping, sans cute kiddos.  But by 4 pm, I had not  heard from him.  By 5, I was upset.  By 6, I was disappointed.  And I was feeling sorry for myself.  But the Spirit reminded me that Jonathan was still working hard, harder than I was (because at that point I was sitting my wonderful recliner).  And Jonathan was trying to help people who couldn't help themselves and I needed to be supportive.  And so when he came home around 7 pm, I smiled and gave him some dinner.  And I learned to make my plans for his scheduled days off, and be pleasantly surprised if he comes home early any other day (which has yet to happen, but I know it will).  And I have a new appreciation for the wives of the bishopric, whose husbands work full time at work and full time at church. I know it's not the same but I never hear their wives complain and that's how I want to be.  

This is a picture of Dr. J after a 30 hour shift.  Usually when he's on call  he gets to rest for at least a couple of hours, but not this week.  So he came home very, very tired (granted, he was making extra special faces for the camera).  He slept for four hours, got up for dinner and played with the girls, and went back to bed for the night and was up at 5:30 the next morning and gone by 6:15.  It will get better though.  

 

We actually have three doctors in our house.  Sami and Janie love stethoscopes.  And I think we have four of them, and one is actually real (yes, they are yard sale treasures ☺).  They give me daily checkups.  So far so good.