It's also June, which means that my intern year is basically over. In fact, in the last two weeks of June I am no longer an intern, strictly speaking, because I take 24-hour calls after the R4s leave.
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| These are all the hours I've logged. The months of night float show up as inverted compared to all the day shifts. Vacations look like black barcodes across entire days. |
I have myself delivered 196 babies (50 of them by C-section, with me as surgeon), and been present for many more deliveries. I've done 19 hysteroscopies, one laparoscopic hysterectomy, a small handful of laparoscopic salpingectomies and cystectomies, and five cystoscopies. I've also paid off two of my undergrad loans. (Don't get excited; in true Dave Ramsey style, I paid off the littlest ones first, and there are still eight to go.)
It was a year of lessons and losses. I lost a lot of my expectations for the way my life would go, and I also lost some battles in living my vocation to the fullest. Now that my schedule is lighter, I'm taking some time to re-evaluate how my life should be lived. The biggest items I've identified are:
- I need to protect times for confession, spiritual direction, and spiritual reading. All of these get eroded when three out of four weekends are eaten by call and weddings, and the fourth weekend feels like Chore Festival.
- I need to care for my body, with enough sleep and with a diet heavy in fruits and vegetables to protect myself from emotional carb-loading.
- It takes work to prepare for good quality prayer and recreation. I need to do this work ahead of time so that I don't veg through time without real contemplation and leisure.
In short: more than limiting the extras, I need to focus on protecting the most important things.
Please pray for me: I am preparing a chapel to house the Blessed Sacrament, and am seeking the privilege of keeping my Spouse at home with me.
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