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On Being Married to a Doctor in Training.

Husby is in his third year of Medical School, which means he is on rotations. Each month he is in a new place, doing a new specialty. He absolutely loves it! These last two years are so much better than the first two, which consisted of classes and tests, classes and tests, classes.and.tests. Those years were not fun. He got up, went to school, came home and studied until midnight or later every.single.night. EVERY night for TWO YEARS! It was awful. I felt like I never saw him even though we were in the same house! I was always bursting into his office declaring random bits of information or senseless stories vying for his attention. Needless to say, I am happy those years are behind us.



Being married to a future doctor, definitely has it's ups and it's downs. Let me share.

* He diagnoses me. If you know me personally, you know that I tend to be a bit....dramatic. Husby quickly tells me that my heartburn is not a heart attack and that my headache is not a brain tumor. It's SO nice to be able to just look across the room and say, "Honey, my so-and-so feels like this....am I dying?" and he tells me what is wrong and what to do about it. It's just handy dandy. A definite UP.

* He calms my fears. When I freak out because I think Levi has this or that horrible disease, he gently and lovingly tells me I'm crazy and that Levi is perfectly fine. When I hear of a friend who has something medically wrong, he tells me success stories and the positive statistics of overcoming it. Throughout the entire situation with Max, Husby has called everything that has happened, one step ahead of it happening. I've seriously been floored. He reassured and encouraged our entire family throughout the entire situation and has made me realize what an excellent doctor he is going to be. UP!!!

* He fixes me. I have horrific tension headaches and migranes on a semi-regular basis. Through Husby's Osteopathic training, he is able to work on me and within minutes I get instant relief. It is insane. Insanely amazing! His healing hands are at my fingertips and it makes me one happy lady. Another wonderful UP.

* He can explain anything. I have a lot of questions. I don't understand a lot of things. Husby knows the answer to absolutely everything and though he probably tires of my "whys" and "whats", he never acts like it. He gives me thorough complete answers and helps stimulate the very SMALL scientific part of my brain. UP!

* Now that he is on rotations, when he is home, he is HOME! No studying! It's all Whitney and Weebie time!! Yaaaaay! (Yes, I require a lot of attention. It's just how I roll.) UP! UP!



* Now that he is on rotations, he will not always be here in town. Thankfully, this year, he only got one "away" rotation which is 2.5 hours away. This means that for one month out of this year, he will be gone. Away from me and Levi. And that month....is October. :( :( I dread it like CRAZY, but he will be home every weekend and I hope to go up once through the week to see him. And I am thankful that he only has one month away and not 3 or 4 (like some of his classmates got!) UGH. We hate hate hate to be apart. This is a definite DOWN.

* He brings home bugs. This month, he is on a Pediatric rotation and has since brought two "kid bugs" home with him. He had a round of sore throat earlier this month and right now I have a sore throat (worst I've ever had), ear ache and runny nose. It's SO not fun, and I am paranoid Little Weebs is going to catch it! The Doc he is rotating with says that every single student that he sees go through there, get sick. Kids are germy and contagious, and thus Husby has completely ruled out Peds (not solely for that reason, but ya know...) DOWN!

* He has fun hours. This month he is home by 5:30 every day and gets off at noon on Tuesdays. UP! UP! UP!

* Sometimes he does NOT have fun hours. There will be times he works night shifts - 7pm to 7am. DOWN! DOWN!

* He gets me free stuff. Last month while on a Family Practice rotation (with my doctor), he scored tons of free samples of a new allergy medicine for me! And nasal sprays! And they work wonderfully. I'm not sure why this is an UP, since my Dad is a pharmacist so all of my meds are free anyway, but all free is always an UP, right? UP!



I'm sure there will be many more UPs and DOWNs during the next year and a half, but really I wouldn't have it any other way. We are smack dab in the middle of where the Lord has led us and it has been an incredible journey so far. We walked into this with our hands grasped tightly, knowing we are in it together and that we are here to encourage and lift one another up to the end (though there were times I wanted to burn all his books and say, "Let's go on a date, pleeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!"). :)

I can hardly believe we are more than half way through to him finally achieving his lifelong dream. Wow!! We can hardly wait to see what he has for us next and where we will finally end up!

Will we be here or will we be there? Regardless, it will be a definite UP. :)
I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. How wonderful! I love seeing D in his doctor gear. He SO looks the part. Ya know they have baby doctor costumes for Halloween. Weebs might need one...:)

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  2. You son is too cute! That is great your husband can ease your medical fears. Me + Dr. Google = no good

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  3. I am sorry to hear he has to leave, but the sooner the better maybe. You get it done and over with, then you have all the time in the world with him! I have to agree with Amber, darling Levi may need a doctor costume for Halloween so he can be just like his daddy!

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  4. I love that he is going to be a D.O. :) They are the best docs!

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  5. its like looking at a real-life episode of Scrubs :)

    at least you only have to be away from him for 1 month! if his job was the military instead, it could have been a year :( thank God it is not!!!

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  6. WoW...the UPS seem to have the DOWNS. Is it bad that I am jealous that you get free meds?! Hope October, which is right around the corner, goes QUICKLY. I also agree that Weebs should have a doctor costume for Halloween :)
    ~Elyse

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  7. I am in the same boat - my husband is a 3rd year as well! I totally understand the ups and downs, though my husband continues to study/read every evening for at least an hour and on test weeks he'll eat dinner with me and that's it. Fortunately he gets to do his rotations here.

    Does he know what kind of doctor he wants to be? Rob has not decided - either family doctor, internist, or dermatologist ... I wish he would make up his mind :)

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  8. That is too cool that your husband is a doctor! Definitely an UP!

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  9. Well I am glad I am not alone in thinking that THIRD year is way better than the first year... most med student wives think it is so much harder because there can be long days... but I was just so excited to see my husband so excited when he came home each day! Its rewarding to see that all that studying is paying off! Congrats - hope the year continues to go well!

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  10. I'm so glad that it's finally paying off. I definitely need a personal doctor at my side 24/7. I always think I have a life threatening disease when it's nothing major at all.

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  11. I'm sure the rotating schedules are difficult. What a blessing that he only received one out-of-town rotation!

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  12. Love this post! You are such a good wifey!!!

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  13. This was such a reminiscent post for me! My husband is now a third year pediatric resident, and it goes by so fast. Third year of school was tough for us, because Hubs had front-loaded his rotation schedule with tough things like surgery and medicine, but it made for a very nice fourth year!!

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  14. AMEN to all of that! Can you believe we are half way done???

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  15. That is AWESOME! You're son definitely has 2 great role models to grow up with and learn from! Have a great day! Hugs, Trac~ :o)

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  16. Third and Fourth years are totally the best! I had a path rotation and the doc told me once that there is no better life than that of a fourth year med student. Enjoy it now because residency will come soon and then he will work 80 hours a week!!!

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  17. I can relate to the classes and tests part of it: we just got married in June, my husband started PhD classes this month (even though he's been in lab since August), and he's already had me draw up his resume to start job searching back home because of the test anxiety and homework stress.

    But then he has good days and we remind ourselves that there are only two years of classes before it's just lab work and teaching (glad he won't have rotations like your husband does)...so hearing stories of other couples who've made it through the initial mountain of classwork is very encouraging--thanks!

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  18. I can totally relate to dropping into Jonathan's study every 30 minutes with some random tidbit of information to tell him about. I try to restrain myself but sometimes you just can't help it!!!

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  19. I totally hear you. My husband is a fourth year med student. The first two years were frustrating. I hated how much time he had to spend alone studying. It never ended. We also had infant twins... so I'm sure that was a part of it. Third year for us definitly had good months - like psych. And some rough ones - like surgery and medicine. Glad your husby only has one away rotation. We are in Houston, so my hubby never had to leave for third year. But now that he has chosen his speciality he is doing several away rotations in possible residency locations. My hubby is also away for October. But this time we have family in that city, so me and the boys are coming along!

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  20. Sounds like there are more ups than downs right now...I know that you'll be so glad for him to be finished, and the down's will definitely pay off!

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  21. That would be fabulous to have a doctor (i hate going to the hospital, you can just roll over in bed) for a hubby....you def. got an UP, don't let him go.

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  22. Yay for getting past the super study mode! My husband is a first-year resident, and I remember how exciting third year was for him. He learned so much, I'm surprised his brain didn't explode! You have such a great attitude about this amazing and sometimes difficult journey you are on together. Store up all the extra time you get together these days! It will be nice to look back on during rough on-call days.

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  23. Look how official Darin looks! I cannot believe you guys are already halfway through! Awesome!

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  24. I also can relate to this...sneaking in while the husband studies to see if you can distract him to hang out with you, even for just a few minutes! It will all be so very worth it in the end!

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  25. I also can relate to this...sneaking in while the husband studies to see if you can distract him to hang out with you, even for just a few minutes! It will all be so very worth it in the end!

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  26. All careers have their ups and downs....my husband once traveled every week, 5 days a week for 8 months...when you're in the midst of October, just remind yourself that it's only 1 month, and you can do it! Absense also makes the heart grow fonder...I know some people say they don't need absense, but even last week I was gone for 2 nights for work, and when I got home it was so nice to have a LONG conversation with lots to talk about (rather than just one day)...but like you said, it's where you're meant to be, and it will all work out!

    You all have tons to be thankful for, and it's refreshing to read your posts and feel like you get that!

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  27. As a fellow wife of a 3rd year med student- all I can say to that post is "Amen, sister!" Thanks for sharing :)

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  28. Hi, I'm a new reader to your blog - a friend recommended it.

    My husband is an intern, and I chuckled when I read your list of UPs and DOWNs. I completely understand them! Another med school spouse (her husband was in my husband's class) and I created two skits for med school talent shows spoofing on what it's like to be married to a medical student - it was a great way to laugh at all the things that come along with med school.

    Those away rotations are the pits, but it's great he only has one!

    What area of medicine is your husband interested in?

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  29. I know exactly how you feel! My fiancee just finished his intern year in Pediatrics...boy was that year a learning experience! Brand new city + no friends or family + fiancee gone at the hospital 90+ hours a week = not so great on the relationship! But we made it through, thankfully!

    My fiancee usually laughs at me because I self-diagnose myself. He laughed for about 6 days when I woke him up in the middle of the night to tell him I thought I had restless leg syndrome (I swear, it had NOTHING to do with the fact that I had seen the commercial about 6 times earlier in the evening!) I'm super glad he's doing Peds and gets experience with the kiddos...we want a big family but I don't have TONS of experience with the little ones!

    GOOD LUCK TO Y'ALL! It's so worth it in the end and, in my opinion, if you can make it through Med School and Intern Year, you're set for life!!!

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  30. Well, it can't get any worse than it is right now for me! Good to hear it gets better! :)

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