From the Plains of Nebraska to OKC…

Even though I have stopped writing on my own blog, my dear husband seems to know that writing is an inherent part of my character and is very necessary for my overall mental health. So here I am. I have agreed to be an occasional guest post contributor and look forward to including my perspective on our shared lives.

In January, our household grew by one more member. The girls now outnumber the boys as we have welcomed Ms. Parker Belle into our fun and crazy home.

Born October 11, 2011, Parker was sheltered at the OKC Humane Society and came home with us on January 20th. While the shelter didn’t know much about her parents, they think the rest of the litter looked like black and white Border Collie cross puppies. I saw her photo on the Humane Society website and decided to drive up the road to meet her in person. All of her siblings had been adopted out and I knew she was going to find a forever home fast.

Maddy passed away in September 2010 and her absence is still felt in our home and in my heart on a daily basis. I miss her dearly and I became rather hard-hearted and ambivalent in my attitude toward dogs because I knew I would never have another Best Friend like her. We did everything together and went everywhere together. And because it was just the two of us, we bonded in a way that I knew would never be possible again now that I had responsibilities of a husband and child.

They say you never really forget your first love and I don’t think you ever really get over your first dog.

From the moment I saw her at the shelter, there was so much of Maddy’s spirit in Parker that I was initially taken by surprise. Maddy was 7 years old when she died and a lot has happened in that time. It is hard for my old brain to reach back and remember the spirited days when Maddy was a new pup exploring the spring flowers in my mom’s backyard. She was spunky and adventurous and well-mannered.

Parker greeted me with eager hand licks and curled up in my lap when I sat on the floor inside her pen at the shelter. She was open-hearted and trusting and eager to learn everything there is to learn about life. And about me.

Dogs bring out the best in you because they only see the best in you. They remind you that curiosity is an essential part of life and it’s okay to look silly when trying new things (like jumping on the couch) for the first time. They love without abandon and don’t harbor grudges. They give you 100% of their attention and are not distracted by text messages or email.

I like to believe that we got another dog to keep Suh company because Brandon is working more and we don’t want her to be lonely. But I know Parker never would have come home with us if she hadn’t reminded me so much of Maddy.

And so, we welcome this spunky ball of fur into our home and are pleased with the dramatic house-training progress she’s made in just seven short days.

St. Martin 2008 Taken By JHawke

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.  A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”  The eagle answered, “Sure, why not.”

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.  All of a sudden a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit, and ate it.

Moral of the story:  To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

OKC Bombing Memorial December 2009

The first interview in my quest for residency was at the hospital that I have done all my rotations in medical school except one.  There were a ton of great things that came out of the experience of the interview, but there are still many things to dislike when speaking about this facility as well.  The pros and cons of each location are so numerous and equal that it makes the decision very difficult for me.  It is very tough to weigh all the programs in the city against one another and ultimately pick the one that you feel is best for you.  I wish I could just wave a magic wand and it would be decided for me.  I have asked many people’s opinions and all that seems to do is make things more difficult.

Pros:  I know most, if not all, the residents in this program.  I know almost all the physicians that are employed at this hospital.  I know the electronic medical record system.  The organization has gotten dramatically better in the past six months.  I am familiar with many of the nurses and other staff members.  I know the facility like the back of my hand.  It is an un-opposed program (meaning other residencies are not at this facility).  It is a community based program.  The residency covers a vast range of things including some very intensive training in ICU and Obstetrics.

Cons:  It is a community based program, therefore, people in many other states would have no idea where I did my residency and applications for jobs may not carry as much weight.  They are only a level 2 trauma center, therefore, one would not see true trauma because it all gets sent to the level 1 trauma center in town.  I know all of the residents and this could make it tough to be a resident in the program.  I know all the staff at the hospital, but they know me as a student and not a resident, which could make for a difficult transition.  Because I know most of the “ins and outs” of the hospital, it may cause me to become a bit complacent when it comes to work, which is not good when you only have three years to learn everything you are supposed to know when out on your own practicing medicine.

All in all, I have a ton of contemplating to do.  There are vast differences between my first interview and my second interview.  I have my third and final interview on Tuesday.  Then I have to sit down and actually figure out the order that I am going to rank the programs.  After that it becomes a waiting game until March, just sitting and hoping and praying that the e-mail comes telling me that I matched somewhere here in Oklahoma City.

Vancouver February 2010

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.  The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.  When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor.

Before she says a word, he says “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.”

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.  When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?”  “It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies.

“Great,” the husband says, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”

Moral of the Story:  If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure. 

Creighton is 13-2 so far on the season and ranked 23rd in the latest AP poll and 21st in the latest coaches poll.  It is in part thanks to this man (Doug McDermott).  I really wish I would have taken the opportunity to watch them play in person this season when they were in Tulsa.  If they make the NCAA Tournament, depending on where it is, I think I will try and make the first and second round games.  They are really playing well thus far.  Enjoy the video and GO JAYS!!

Taken May 2007

There are many things that we take for granted in life and the most important of those is relatives, especially close relatives.  We always think that there will be another “better” time to call and another time to talk and visit and laugh or cry.  Well, on July 26, 2011, I came to the harsh realization that sometimes there will not be a better time or even another time.  It was one of the toughest things that I have had to go through in my life.  Every death of a family member is tough, but this one was especially so.

Grandma was like my second mother.  For as long as I can remember I went to her house for “daycare” and would not have had it any other way.  Her and my grandpa helped raise me into the man that I am today.  She was my last surviving grandparent and had been so since I was a senior in high school.  She very rarely if ever missed anything that I did including sports, theater performances, high school graduation, and even my undergraduate graduation.  She was really not in the best of health when I headed off to medical school and this I knew, but I chose to forget about it and pretend that the reality was not there.  She made it through my first two years and with the aid of my mom and dad even made the trek to Canada to see me get married in 2009.

The day of my wedding was one of the greatest days of my life, but for many different reasons.  However, looking back, I truly believe that God blessed me by helping give her the strength to make that trip.  She should not have made it and I think all of us knew that, but I wanted so badly to have her there.  I will never forget how great she looked in her new dress and how proud she appeared to be that day when I said “I DO”.  It was the greatest gift she could have given me by sacrificing her time and probably some of her health to travel to my wedding.  Grandma did not have a lot of money and constantly apologized for not getting us a great gift, but she did not realize that the greatest gift of all had already happened and continued throughout the whole day and night.

I got a call about 5 days before her death from my mom saying that she had another heart attack.  I knew, being a medical student, that it was not good news.  I asked if my mom thought that I would need to be making a trip to Nebraska to have to say good-bye to her.  It was a short conversation, but it felt terribly long.  My mom said she would keep me informed and stated that my grandma was likely going to be transported to Colorado for a cardiac catheterization in a final attempt to save her life.  I got a call the day after the cardiac catheterization from my dad saying that things were not looking good and I needed to head that way.  I let Jen know what was going on and told her that there was no need to come because she was in orientation for residency at the time.  The drive was 12 hours one way and would be quite grueling with Creighton.  She decided to come anyway and took sick days at work.  I am not certain that she realized it, but that was probably the single best gift, other than my son, that she has ever given me.

The 12 hour drive seemed to take forever, but we got there around midnight the same day that my dad called.  He continued to update me on grandma’s status and she continued to hang on.  Believe it or not, I did get to say my final good-bye to my grandma and that was one of the best gifts that God has ever given me.  I know that I probably did not deserve to see her one last time, but it made my life to be able to.  I will never forget for as long as I live what she said to me when I walked in the door and she realized I was there.  She said “You didn’t have to drive all the way here just for me, I know you have better things to do.” I replied “There is nothing more important than being here with you.” It was a show of strength that I really could never have imagined from someone as sick as her.  Not only did she say things like that, but she got to play with my son one last time.  It was like there was no one else there in that moment and I will never forget it.

She would go on to live two more very long and rough days before finally resting and letting the Lord take her away.  She played such a huge role in my life and I just hope that I can some day play a large role in Creighton and his kids’ lives.  She taught me what it meant to be strong, humble, honest, hard-working, thoughtful, and even in her last few days – to NEVER give up.  Because of her, my other grandparents, and my parents, I will be a GREAT doctor and I will be a GREAT man and I will never forget that this time needs to be treated like the last time.

Photo By The Talented JHawke

I thought that I would post another photo, review, ingredient list, and recipe for a dinner that I have made in the past.  My apologies if I have listed this one before.  The recipe comes from “Hyvee Seasons Comfort Foods” Cookbook.  I received this cookbook from my Aunt Nancy and thus far it has been a huge hit.  The recipes in this book are bang on and simple to follow.  For the Seven Layer Lettuce Salad the hardest part was hard-boiling the eggs really to be honest.  For ease of preparation I would give it a 9/10, simply because the presentation is a bit challenging.  For the taste from this recipe I would have to go with an 8/10.  People that are keen on salads may actually give this a higher rating for taste than I did.

Ingredients: 1 head of romaine lettuce chopped; 1 cup diced celery; 4 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and sliced; 2.5 cups frozen peas; 0.5 cup diced yellow bell pepper; 1 cup diced sweet onion; 8 slices bacon, fried and crumbled; 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese; 2 cups mayonnaise; and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Recipe:  1) Place lettuce in a large, clear, footed serving bowl or in a 13X9X2 inch glass baking dish.  Layer diced celery, egg slices, peas, bell pepper, onion, and bacon.  2) Sprinkle cheese on salad.  In a medium bowl stir together mayonnaise and sugar.  Mound or spread on the top of the salad.  3) Cover and refrigerate until well chilled or up to 24 hours.

Give this one a shot.  You will not regret the results or the price of the ingredients to make it.

Taken From Google Images

The following is an editorial that was published in the New Orleans paper back when we lived there in February 2010.  I thought it was well written and really made some good points.  Unfortunately I do not have the context of the original article that appeared in the paper that he is responding to.  Let me know what you think…

Disregard For Life Is The Problem

Maybe it’s not just the letter writer, and it certainly is the mindset of those of his ilk for redefining the Second Amendment and blaming legal gun ownership and the gun for the excessive violence in our society.

I suppose that he thinks he has a far more in-depth knowledge of the intentions of our founding fathers and the U.S. Constitution than all of the justices of the Supreme Court, those foolish folks who have misinterpreted it for 234 years.  His position that removing personal defense guns from our lawful citizens will lessen murders and gun violence is naive, uneducated and absurd.

It is people who kill people and has been so since Cain slew Abel.  As a 38 year veteran law enforcement officer and 30 year military combat veteran, I’ve never seen a firearm indiscriminately harm anyone without a human initiating the process.  I’ve arrested hundreds of people involved in felony crimes with guns, and almost all of them were obtained and possessed illegally.

There will always be a black market in the criminal community for guns, and especially if they are banned.  No it’s not the gun but an increasing disregard for human life in our culture – much more dangerous than the gun.  This is where the change must occur.

~ Wallace W. Goodey III (Pearl River)

It brings up points that have been argued for centuries.  The point though is that the gun can be used for any purpose that the person would like to use it for.  Jen found out that heading to the gun range and shooting targets is actually quite a fun and competitive sport.  There have been countless stories like the one I am going to link to, but please take a moment and read it.  It is a great example of someone protecting what is rightfully theirs and utilizing our second amendment and more specifically Oklahoma’s Castle Law to the fullest.  I hope you will share your thoughts on this issue, but please be civil in doing so.  Below you will find a very recent story regarding the right to protect one’s property and children.  Without the second amendment and the Castle Law in Oklahoma, there is really no telling how this story would have ended.

Oklahoma Capital Building 2009

The second of my three interviews was today.  It was at one of the bigger programs, if not the biggest program, in the State of Oklahoma.  The residency interview process is really quite daunting.  It is difficult enough to try and figure out what city you are looking to interview in, but in the case of Oklahoma City, there is more than one program to choose from within the city, which only compounds the difficulty in decision making.  Additionally, all the programs have pros and cons.  It is such a difficult process to narrow down the decisions for the ultimate ranking system known as “the match”.  I am secretly wishing that I can get a pre-match like Jen from one of the places so that I really do not have to worry about anything anymore and I do not have to sit through the actual “match” process in March.

The program today was amazing and scary all at the same time.  Do not get me wrong though, all the programs are a bit scary when you start to think about actually being in charge of patient care.  The opportunity is fading fast to be the medical student that could hide in the corner and observe, not speak, and no one really cared either way.  The campus is huge and during the tour all I could think about was how overwhelming it all was and how easy it would be to get lost in the crowd.  My mind kept going back to when I was looking for undergraduate universities, and I was reminded of the fact that I chose my university based on the fact that I really did not want to be a number and wanted to be known by people.  The program really was not as intimate as I really wanted it to be.  Additionally, I was asked tough questions about my Step 2 CS failure and why Jen and I being in the same program would be good for the program, or as they put it “not be bad for the program”.

However, it is important to note all the positive things that came out of the dinner last night and the interview today.  I got a good feel for the program from all of the residents and I feel like ultimately there is no bad choice in the whole scheme of things.  I really liked how friendly all of the residents in the Family Medicine Program were, along with all of the staff.  Also, I really appreciated the organization of the program and the staff.  The facilities are second to none and the opportunities for patients with complicated (excellent learning opportunity) cases is very high.  There are ample fellowship opportunities including geriatrics, sports medicine, and emergency medicine.  Lastly, the volume of patient traffic is quite high and this will help me to be certain to achieve all of the set patient and procedure amounts that are required in order to graduate and be eligible to become board certified.

All in all, it was a great experience and it is nice to see the inside of programs that you have read about or heard about.  Everyone has their own opinion on what is right for them, but no one seems to be willing to help me along with my decision on what is right for me.  This includes my parents and Jen.  I know that I really cannot make a “bad” decision when it comes to the programs in Oklahoma City, but I want to make sure that I make the best decision for not only myself, but my family and my future.