Reflections

Having had a week to let it sink in, I must say that I'm still a little shocked that Medical School is over. For me, the first 2 years drug on just a little, but the past 2 years have flown by. Wiggy and I got married two weeks before Medical School began. I must say that contrary to expectations, this experience has had no negative effects on our marriage. Quite the opposite in fact.

Medical school taught us patience, time management, and to appreciate the time that we have together. It taught us to dream big, to expect the unexpected, it taught us faith, to listen to our hearts rather than others opinions, it taught us to be unconventional, that difficult weeks or months come to an end, that we could be quite happy living on one income, that together we can accomplish anything. It taught us to appreciate eachother's strengths, how to best talk through things, it taught us patience, and to wait for answers. It provided us with wonderful steadfast friends that I am happy to say will be sticking around the Dash with us for a few more years.

These are not the things that I expected to learn from Medical School. Quite frankly I was a bit terrified of Medical School. As an only child I am quite independent, but I was quite weary that I would be living life as a single person with a studying body in the room upstairs. Of course those days and weeks happened, and I felt a twinge of self-pity now and then, but overall we have grown so much as a couple during these four years that I wonder where we may be without them.

Here we are at another crossroad... in a few short weeks Wiggy will be an Intern beginning his first month on an OB rotation. I have joked with him that his legacy of his first month will live on in the stories that the Mothers of the babies he delivers will tell them years from now... the stories about the young Dr. who seemed to have no idea what he was doing when he delivered them.... all jokes aside, I know my husband will be a wonderful Doctor. It is now time for me to go back to school so we can move closer to our dream of owning our own practice... we're not exactly sure what it will look like yet or exactly what type of medicine we'll practice... but in the meantime I better get started learning how insurance/staffing/liability/EMR etc. etc. etc. works.

Are we ready for the new stresses? Of course I wonder just as I did 4 years ago. But I've learned from those four years that we'll learn so much more and rather than only looking forward to the future, we will savor the next 3 years and soak them up. I will try to be better at remembering "Life is what happens while you're making other plans".

Dr. Wiggy's Graduation

Last weekend we reached a major milestone in the life-long process of evolving as a physician. We were so fortunate to share the weekend with both of our families. Wiggy's parents came all the way from Nebraska and my parents and Grandparents from Maryland for a long weekend of celebration. The festivities began on Friday when we all attended an Award's Ceremony for the graduates. Wiggy was quite surprised to be the recipient of the award for interest and aptitude in Oncology. His dear friend Dr. McQuellon played a major role in his receiving it and for that we are grateful! Friday night we hosted a cookout for our families and a few friends. However, our cookout resulted in a torrential downpour and became a cook-in with the chicken prepared in the oven instead of on the grill! A good time was had by all though and it was a great start to the weekend.

Saturday festivities included a trip to Pilot Mountain and the faculty reception at Forsyth Country Club following dinner with our families. Sunday morning we attended our church with our families and were able to watch our dear friend, Ross, be commissioned into
Christian Service as he begins his mission in the Navajo. Sunday evening was the big event... The Hooding Ceremony where the graduates officially became Doctors! This was held in Wait Chapel which of course is nostalgic for all of us Wake grads anyway. I made it through Wiggy's name being called and all without any overrun emotions. However, when they introduced the entire class and we all stood up I lost it.... totally unexpected moment as always, but it was quite an emotional couple of minutes for me! That evening we celebrated with a tasty dinner and great conversation at Ombu!

Monday morning was the "real" graduation. The speaker was Joe Biden so we were encouraged to arrive early for the "airport" like security. I kept looking for this as a lady quickly glanced at my purse as we shuffled onto the quad. It was FREEZING that morning and the ground was quite soggy from the night before, not the best of conditions for graduation, but we made it through. I must say the VPs speech was inspiring.. and we'll leave it at that. The final leg of the morning was a quick jaunt over to the Fine Arts Center where the MDs received their official diplomas. This process was nice and quick as just about everyone had reached their fill of "ceremonies" over the weekend. We finished up with a celebratory lunch with other new MD's at Forsyth Country Club before wishing our families goodbye.

I must mention Wiggy's special graduation gift from his Mom that he will cherish forever. She gave him her Mother's bible that was given to her when she was 7. Not only that, but she made a beautiful velvet bag for him to keep it in and found a beautiful marble box to keep that in. I know this is very special to him and he will cherish it always.

Congratulations Dr. Wiggy! We did it... let the journey continue!

Stone Mountain

This past Sunday Wiggy and I embarked on a new hiking route at Stone Mountain. We've been talking about going forever and finally had a beautiful AND free afternoon to go for it. The drive ended up being less than an hour and was absolutely beautiful and green. We went on the 5 mile hike that started by the water then allowed us a gorgeous view of the huge Molten Rock Mountain before taking us by the waterfall. We then hiked a couple of miles straight up-hill/steps before the breathtaking view and breeze at the top. It was well worth the tired legs! We hung out on the top for a while before heading down the mountain. We always let Jasper off his leash on the descent because he hops like a mountain goat which is adorable, but very hard to keep up! Afterward we went to a nearby country store for icecream and listened to bluegrass on the front porch while in rocking chairs. What a perfect Sunday!

Flying High

Last weekend I completed my first half marathon since the start and now maintenence of chronic plantar fasciitis. I hate it, I mean really hate it. More than likely my foot will never feel 100% normal again unless I completely stayed off my feet for months and I hope to goodness that never becomes necessary!

Labor Day weekend of 2008 was my last race prior to this one and it was absolutely horrible. Wiggy and I were ready to go at the start aiming high for record times and the weather and the stress that we put on ourselves just killed us. I mean the muggiest grossest weather I've ever run in... we were slow and it was painful.... mentally, physically and especially on my foot. After that I sought treatment first through a podiatrist that just gave me cortisone shots, a night brace that doesn't work for people with high arches like myself, and really hard orthotics. The shots felt good for a few weeks then the pain came back much worse than before. I did some research and then went to my friend Keoni at the Naturopathic clinic in town for some acupuncture and cool laser therapy. After 6 weeks of no running, lots of stretching on a stair climber (allow foot to hang off back, works wonders) and the dreaded elliptical with the therapy I started feeling quite a bit better.

Through the winter months I was very cautious running just a few miles 3 x per week and one long run on the weekends. Starting in February I picked it up a bit running faster with an incline on the treadmill and 12 mile runs on Sunday (no time just running). I think this easy training paid off!

I arrived in High Point on Saturday morning to cloudy skies and said a quick prayer for no rain and no pain then was off. We'd gotten up around 5 which is normal for me. There was also very little hype around this race and I didn't really think about it as much more than a chance to get back into it. I was feeling great and realized at mile 7 that I'd been running 7 minute miles the entire way as I stayed right behind a guy that was running the full marathon barefoot, that's right barefoot. He even got a shout out in the paper the next day!

We split off from the full marathoners around mile 8 or so for 2 miles straight up hill. I had no one really running around me except one guy who kept walking then would run and pass me just to walk again... irritating. I still felt really strong and kept looking for my wonderful hubby and baby boy (Jasper) who were following me around the course. Finally at mile 12 I kicked it up a bit and finally passed the 10-year-old-looking boy that was just ahead of me the entire race. I finished with a PR of 1:34. 42! Good enough for 8th overall (an olympic gold medalist 52 year old FEMALE won), 4th female and won my age group. I must say I blew myself away. I am one of those people that does not impress herself easily, but I must say I was quite proud that morning!

Now I'm just trying to figure out what I did right! Is it time for the full thing? I think it might be but 26 miles is so freaking daunting! Anyway, I'm back... plantar fasciitis is under control and I'm very happy right where I am!

Thanks to Meghan for the margaritas and burgers to celebrate at her new house that evening... hit the spot!