YEAR ONE & DONE (RESIDENCY)

[taken last August during this visit from his family]

Since last year I wrote a quick residency update, I thought it appropriate to celebrate the one year mark of this journey. In June, Derek became a 2nd year resident and graduated from the intern program through Scripps. Rather then participating in all fields of medicine (radiology, ER, OB/GYN, general surgery, pediatrics) and podiatry, this year, he is only working on feet. He is absolutely loving it! He is doing more and more surgical cases on his own, seeing his own patients, and becoming more independent within the healthcare systems for both Scripps and Kaiser. Yes, the hours are still killer. I don't expect him home earlier then 9:00 most nights, and it's a rare occasion when no add-on cases are scheduled and we can spend an evening together. Luckily, with the addition of four new interns, his weekend and holiday call schedules for the year haven't been too demanding. We enjoy two weekends a month to play, and explore our beloved San Diego. We have been able to enjoy our summer trips to the beach and taking some time off before he becomes a slave to Scripps Mercy for the Fall. In the end, we will look back on our residency years and miss it, just like I sometimes miss our years being in medical school. I have loved every stage of life we have been in together these last four years. From our cheap little date nights in medical school, too the cold winters in Michigan being snowed in, to today, where the hours may be long, but there is always time for a beach trip every few weeks. There is always time, you just need to find it!