A semi-triumphant return

The first two weeks of medical school have gone well in a good-attitude sort of way.  I was on gynecological oncology, which was obviously not for me.  It is like high stakes gambling all the time with life and death and morbidity . . . very interesting in a decision analysis sort of way, not so interesting in the day-to-day.

I was in the OR last week for a very involved surgery (removing some very large cancer masses, resectioning some bowel, removing some other organs) and spending a lot of my mental effort figuring out how to stand in one place for five hours without having my knees and back ache.  The attending turned to me and said, "You're not going to be a surgeon.  If you were, you'd be like 'OMG this is the most amazing thing ever!' Don't get me wrong, you're happy to be here and involved, but this is obviously not your calling."   Spot on, dude.

But it was interesting to be in there for a few weeks and see all the crazy things we can do to people.  Humans are amazing.  And I really focused on learning the sorts of things that I will need to know later.  For instance, I got to feel lots of abdominal masses.  This was useful because when I didn't know what I was feeling for, it is hard to say I didn't feel it.  I can now say with confidence when I don't feel masses.  Go me.

I have experienced my least favorite thing so far in medical school: walking to the bus at 5 in the morning with icy sidewalks.  The worst.  Also, having the bus show up 24 minutes late on the day it was -12 was not OK.  Not that I was counting.  Good thing I own snow pants.

And I am not very excited about the hours I've been putting in.  I haven't been feeling too bad about not being home, since I seem to have mental clicked over to, "medical school requires a lot of time, all my free time is spent with my kids, when I can get vacation, I'll take it" which is going to be the way things are for the next 4.5 years.  But it still sucks to not be home very much.  Those boys are growing up too fast.  Huxley is poking pineapple with forks and Turing is singing songs and adding on his fingers.  Jerks.