So, here we are in Houston for fellowship. I'll give a brief summary of life as a fellow up to this point and I'm sure I'll write again at the end of the year.
About a week before Dave came to Houston he got in touch with the fellow who was here just finishing up and talked to her about the schedule, service, dr.s, etc to get a feel for how things run. She wasn't here when he had interviewed (being out on a real job interview) so he didn't get a chance to ask a lot about the program from her perspective at that point. He was a bit dismayed to learn that she had possibly the most rigorous schedule of any program he had interviewed at. She worked 5:30am-whenever the work was done each day, was on call EVERY single night except for every other weekend which she had off. It was brutal. Such a bummer to have to work at such a tiresome pace. On a positive note, the work is great, the hospital is a well oiled machine and you can get exposure to anything you want to see.
Dave started work here in Houston on July 1st. He came to our rental home and camped on the floor in an empty house while I stayed in SD with the kids so Calvin could finish school. In July Dave worked 5:30am to usually around 10 or 11pm each day. It was ridiculous. I couldn't believe the hours he was keeping. I was glad we were home and not in Houston yet. Aug 1 Dave took a week off to come get us. He worked hard to get our house packed up and ready to go and then we had a great family vacation. We got here and had a day to unpack and then he was back to work. The first two weeks were, I'm not going to lie, brutal. I had 3 wait, no I have 4 kids. I had 4 tired and grouchy kids adjusting to the time change. I had MAJOR problems getting Calvin's prescriptions filled and spent hours on the phone, in dr's offices, at pharmacies with the above mentioned 4 kids and was ready to pull my hair out. I already documented that lovely week so I won't go on complaining anymore about it. haha!
In spite of Dave being very busy, we were all under the same roof and even if Dave's days were long I still saw him every night. And right away I was glad we moved.
We've now been here two months. Things are going well. Dave is super busy. Not as busy as July (most of the time) but still out the door before 6 and home most nights around 8-9pm. About once a week he'll get here earlier and occasionally he'll get home in the afternoon or slip home for an hour in the middle of the day before heading back for evening rounds, journal club or whatever else is going on. Dave is doing lots of cases, learning and lot and grooming himself for an excellent job next summer. We have to keep looking ahead because to be honest this is a pretty miserable year, work wise. Dave is pretty much a slave to the hostpial. The work is relentless and being the only fellow he oversees everything going on in the neurosurgery service. The attendings here have a POSH job. They never take call by themsleves becuase Dave does all the call (minus 4 days a month). So pretty much they are only called if it is a big suregery that they come in for. They have 5 docs so they have only a handful of days of call a month and like I said, it is backing up Dave, who at this point has full attending privelidges. Many of the fellowships we interviewed at the fellow took attending call. So basically they rotated every 3 or 4 days on attending call. It would have been WAAAAYYYYY better. This call schedule is way worse. for dave, he can never relax, the pager is always on, never sleep through the night. For me, I can never go anywhere because he is always on call. LAME. We're both counting down the days 'til we are done with that. And if I'm being totally honest, we are both too swamped to help each other out. Neither one of us has any leisure time. Dave is so busy he doesn't have time for hobbies or fun activities or even exercise. And since Dave is never home I can't go to any of the activities I'd usually do like enrichment, book club, girls nights. I was telling Dave that I have missed everything since we moved here and he said, "Oh, they have those things here?" He is so busy I don't even bother to tell him, oh I have book club tonight. Wouldn't make a difference. Also, we haven't found a babysitter that would work so we haven't been on any dates except the one when Dan was here. That is a real drag. I have a few ideas on things we can try so I am working on that but so far no luck. Luckily for me I can workout during the day while the kids are in school, and have a few people who I see during the day so I am not completely isolated.
On the weekends Dave is on call at a minimum he goes in to round in the morning and then can make it back home but is on call. Sometimes it is quiet and we do see a lot of him. Other times on the weekend he is rounding and then operating all day and night. You never really know what will happen.
On the weekends Dave has off we try to do a few fun things together or Dave takes the kids out one on one to spend time with them. He always takes naps wherever he can and likes to watch the good college football games that are on TV. Since our time together is limited I've adopted a "work hard, play hard" policy. I try to have the kids do chores during the week, a few jobs here and there so that Saturday isn't a clean the house day and can be open to do what we want.
With all the grumbing about thee call schedule I have to say, WE LOVE where we live. We have the greatest neighbors next door. Mike and Mandy Hansen and baby Soren and little Madeline. Also 4 doors down we have the Hawks family. It is great to have such wonderful neighbors. We love that we are on a quiet street so the kids can play and ride bikes. I love the smaller house that is easier to clean and manage. It is great that we are only 10 minutes from the hospital so that Dave doesn't have to waste time driving and can slip home every opportunity he gets. We also love the other families that go to our elementary school. It gives us all a little group of friends to keep us afloat.
It is a good year. I am sure we'll be sad to leave in 8 months when we're done here but I do hope that the light at the end of the tunnel will be a little more flexibility for us time wise. I don't expect it will be hugely different. I know Dave will always be busy and I'll be doing most of the home stuff alone for ever but at least Dave won't be on call every single day after this year is done and he won't be as sleep deprived.
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