bracing for the storm

bill takes the chief pager tomorrow to start his first week of chief call (fyi – a “chief” is a 5th year ENT resident. their last year is called a chief year because it is structured differently that the previous years). he is taking it a week early so that the chiefs leaving don’t have to carry the pager while they are packing up or are on terminal vacation. how kind of him right? not exactly how I first answered it, but next year I will be grateful that we are not on call the last week. hopefully, we will actually be on “vacation” the last week so we can head to NZ early.

I am taking some deep breathes as we start this year. I will need a lot of extra patience and strength to endure the long, long, long weeks we have ahead. there are usually 4 ENTs in each “class”, but bill’s class only has 3. so that means Q3 weekly call (friday – friday) when everyone is in town. the first quarter, july-sept, each chief will spend a month at HCMC (hennepin county medical center) in Minneapolis to get more facial trama experience (think gun shot wounds). bill will do his time there in July so me and the kids will be going back and forth from hudson and rochester a lot. for the months when someone is in MSP the call will be Q2, which just gets exhausting. because when he is on call at any point he could get a page and have to go into the hospital. that means that even when bill is home I am not really that free to go run errands, workout, meet friends, etc. being even more realistic it probably means that most nights he will work late and then get pages and just stay at the hospital and work, come home around midnight sleep for a few hours and be back up again early to start the cycle again. I am gathering this vision from the current chief residents and their wives -maybe, just maybe-there is hope for seeing him. I can tell you this – I am not getting my hopes up. what I think will be the hardest will be the kids. there are probably going to be long stretches that he won’t see them and it really effects their attitudes (especially charlie, but the girls are getting there too). when he is on call we only get 1 day with him every 14 days and that day always goes way too fast.

it is at times like these that I am so thankful for bill’s hard work and his ability to be so present with us when he is home – even if he is tired and exhausted. I am also thankful for the RAC where I can go and  get a workout, shower and some me time to endure the long days with my beautiful, healthy, incredibly active children – even though it costs me $10.50 per time ($3.50/kid/2.5hrs) it is worth my sanity. I am going to embrace going there a lot this year if it means being a more loving, patient, encouraging wife and mom. in fact, I have been getting to the RAC at 8:30 (when childcare opens) lately and checking the girls in to childcare and then bringing charlie swimming for 30 minutes then checking him in and going to workout for awhile. it really helps charlie’s attitude – the only hard part is getting everyone packed up and out the door by 8:30. I am also thankful for my wonderful friends who are always up for a dinner playdate, park playdate or just an encouraging text or phone call. laura and tom and my parents are such saints when it comes to helping out. laura coming to hang with the crew during the week so there is one night a week I know someone will be around to help during dinner/bedtime. tom and laura are always willing to have me and the crew in hudson for a break. and my parents come for 3 days frequently to help over long weekends and help me get to green bay for mini vacas too.

so while this year may be long at times I will continue to pray that I will gain wisdom and knowledge and grow in my faith throughout this year. I am also excited to know that each week that passes is a week over. we will not repeat any of these weeks or months in rochester – instead we will be in NEW ZEALAND at this time next year. what an adventure we have to look forward to!

bring it on chief year!