-Grenada. August 2015-
I love surprises...but this was not a good surprise:
Monday, August 10th at 10:22pm while casually packing my suitcase for another term of school, I looked at my ticket and realized that my flight was departing on August 11th at 12:30am.... in TWO hours...
Heart attack.
I had made the mistake of not seeing that the departure time was 12:30am...AM...
In my defense I usually use military time...I hate excuses...but anyways, there is my excuse. I own up to the fact that I seriously misread that ticket.
I felt my heart drop to my stomach (this is a sensation that intrigues me as does the saying) and called my parents informing them of this terrifying realization. I was supposed to already be at the airport, checked in, gone through security and long done with packing. Instead, I was panicking that I was going to miss my flight.
My family-being truly amazing-helped me stuff what necessities I needed into my bags. We raced out of the house, loaded the truck and sped to the airport. Of course there was traffic, road construction and a police was driving in front of us for a quarter of the time. We arrived at SEA-Tac at approximately 11:40pm thinking that this night might actually end reasonably. While unloading my baggage, my heart sank once again as I noticed a bag was missing. And of course not just any bag...The bag with all my school supplies and 'me things.' And food. Knowing that there was no time, I cut as many people in security and got to my gate with literally minutes to spare, boarded, proceeded to have 2 layovers, sit in the plane in Miami's terminal in the last seat (next to the bathroom) for three hours before departing, then arrive to Grenada at an ungodly hour only to be charged a massive amount of tax on my electronics. Still a little bitter if that's not apparent. Upon arriving to my room on campus, I realized that the past 24 hours had happened in a way that was so far from any agenda I had.
But here's the thing that I was recently told and can apply to that night and many more to come.
"Suck it up. Stop getting upset about it. Don't let whatever 'it' is compromise your studies. Don't rely on a second chance. Stop complaining, just study, just do it. Let it go and go learn."
AMEN.
I wrote those words down and like being 'told' that whenever I look at the sticky note that holds them on my wall. Not the most encouraging quote or phrase to read-but definitely straight forward and true. And sometimes that is exactly the reality that I need. (Of everyone, my mother is the type of woman to tell me things like this and I know she'd appreciate this).
Moving on....
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School starts Monday.
Honestly looking forward to it.
It won't be easy. It will be challenging. But I am here to work. Nothing new there.
Being here -in this specific setting-helps me focus on working hard. Studying at home was harder-but I have gotten into that working mode upon arriving here in GND.
I have made a few promises to myself for this term. Many of those promises are regarding my time and how I am going to study. I have some friends who are going to keep me accountable to those promises and appreciate that they are as serious about doing well too.
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Quick trip down memory lane...
Good summer.
Shadowed in a pediatric ER-found this to be difficult yet fun. I found myself relating pediatricians to veterinarians as they have to de-code 2 year old language and maneuvers that are not much different in sound or appearance than those of a dog.
Example: one of the kids was a 3 year old autistic boy with ill defined leg pain and limping. The differential was quite broad according to the doctor and his physical exam was not very conclusive. My question: Where do you start when all you get is an 'ouch' and some tears? I find this to be difficult because not only do you want to care for the child, but cater to the very concerned parent who was clearly scared enough to have brought him into the ER. The doctor started with imaging studies-of which she had to discuss radiation exposure and risk with his mother who is scared as to why he's in pain yet needs to act as his advocate to his well being and future health as well as understand the testing that is recommended and reasons why. So many factors to consider-it's amazing.
Not sure if I could do peds...Not sure why I am hesitant in regards to this age group...
They were always my favorite patients when working in the general ER, however, it was a little strange only seeing children (ours were mainly ages <1 year to 10 when shadowing at the Seattle Children's Hospital). I did notice the overwhelming concern of the childrens' parents and rightly so. Imagine if your child, especially your one and only child, choking or falling or if they stopped breathing or being in a car accident...life stops for a moment and they feel helpless as parents. That's scary even for me as the witness to this -but as the parent...I can only imagine.
This shadowing experience was also helpful in regards to learning the different routes that one can take to pursue a career in emergency medicine and a traditional EM residency is not the only way to end up as an ER doc. This was very interesting and valuable knowledge to gain.
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Closing thought...It's been quite the journey since January and I am praying that the Lord continues to guide me as the term develops.
With that said...Onto my last day before the real work begins...
Until next time.
Romans 14: 8
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