another milestone...

[houseelf]

Tonight is hubby's last call night as S.O.D. a/k/a "sucker on duty" or "surgeon on duty" at the VA hospital! He loathes this service and is so excited that I think that he is going to dance a jig on the floor tonight. We are bringing him a bucket of Chinese food to celebrate this grand occasion.

Twelve weeks until the lab! Wooooooo Party!

I'm cautiously optimistic, hower. I have this sinking suspicion that the program will change the rotations so that the fourth and fifth years will somehow get placed out at the VA again. Why am I so cynical????

Kelly

[mommax3]

AHHHHH, cynicism.......it happens to the best of us. My husband could not catch a break the second half of his fourth year. He spent residency as the "fair-haired boy" who could do no wrong -- and while things didn't always go our way, they didn't always SUCK either. However, starting in about February of the last year, everything hit the fan. Our assignment ended up being our FIFTEENTH choice, when every other Air Force OB resident that we had known in the three years prior had gotten at least their third choice. They yanked a week of his leave the day before it was to start, and tried to make it look like he was trying to get away with something by taking time off when they were short staffed, (which he didn't know because he had to sign up for his vacation six months prior, before anyone knew about the shortage) and they made him do two months of Gyn-Onc (sucky rotation to begin with) with a post-partum second year who was depressed (he put her on Prozac, for which she thanks him to this day) and NO third year. On top of it all, I was pregnant with our third and our first two got Parvo Virus, (Fifth's Disease) as did I, which is dangerous for pregnant women, so we had to live with the fear of possible defects for the entire second trimester --you know, the "happy" trimester? Thank God nothing was wrong with the baby.

I have never been so stressed in my life as I was during that period -- and it showed -- I was still throwing up at the beginning of May, well past the halfway mark of the pregnancy. We were totally drained. Both of us had always been optimists (my husband more than me) but now he is somewhere in the middle and I have moved into the pessimists' camp. It feels safer here! 8O Maybe in time we will heal and move back to a happier state, but right now we seem to be waiting, on an unconscious level, for the other shoe to drop.

On a happier note, I am glad this era is coming to an end for you and Sean -- you certainly should celebrate! Enjoy every opportunity that you can.

Sally

[DCJenn]

Kelly-

We're ready to celebrate here as well, Rick's finishing his last rotation on the Ward and he's about ready to cartwheel home. One more day...

Jenn

[mommax3]

Congrats to you and Rick, too! I am still so happy for you guys.

Sally

How much longer at the old job?

Well, Sally, that really sucks to put it bluntly. Hopefully good things will begin to happen for you soon.

Congratulations to all that are awaiting the final hour of whatever sh***y rotation to end. We crossed our "finish" line on the 1st, now it is on to "Radi-holiday"!! The attending actually told DW 'I don't care how often you are here just check in with me every couple days so that I know you aren't dead'. She has to be there between 7-7:30a but is home before 11a!! HUGE change from the nonstop inpatient hours!!
This appears to be the perfect service for delivery of a baby.

should have also added that DW is taking 3 months off when baby comes too. At one point she really wanted to finish residency with all her mates, but I think that quickly faded when she realized how bad she needs a break!!!

[houseelf]

Sally,

Holy cow, girl...I had no idea. It looks like you are due some good luck coming your way. That's the only way I can think of it. You da woman. Seriously, here's hoping for all the best for you and your family. Hopefully Sting's song "Been down so long, being down don't bother me" will no longer be your theme song...

Jenn & Matt,

Congrats on turning your respective corner as well.

We went to visit hubby on his last night as the VA SOD and he seemed so burnt out. His lab coat was filthy, he desperately needs a haircut, his mood was pretty low, and he wore four (4!) pagers to cover all the services. He reminded me of animals in the wild that get to the state where they quit properly taking care of themselves. The stress was palpable. I really don't know why all these brilliant people can't come up with a better system. I keep joking that it is only a matter of time before some poor resident goes on a rageful binge. Instead of "going postal" they will "go resident".

Still, I can't believe that we almost have three years of a general surgery residency behind us. I feel like we are doing what we believed couldn't be done. Come on lab years!

Kelly

[Meenah]

Congratulations to all of you. What a stressful time you will be leaving behind.
Luanne

DH and I always used to keep a few bottles of cheap champagne around to celebrate the end of hard rotations. We liked the tradition so much we started to do it after every rotation if nothing else to celebrate making it through another month. Definitely makes it something to look forward to.

[SueC]

Hey, that's a good idea!

That sounds like a great idea!

[Phoebe]

Kelly- Congratuations on your husband's last month of a nasty rotation. I hope the next two years are extremely boring (less hectic) for him at work.

Jennifer