Ely Adventures: 2014

Alright, perhaps I forgot about my blogging commitment for a few ~~weeks~~ months, but I'm back again. And I'm going to get caught up (again), so that hopefully instead of writing in the past tense I can record the present. And maybe muse about some other topics that deserve some musing.

So...back to November.

As positive as my Einstein interview experience might have been, I super-duper, without a doubt, did not like Philadelphia. Part of it was the rotation; I spent entirely too much time with snarky attendings & senior residents that didn't want to teach. But mostly it was the city. It was dirty, the public transportation was terrible, and I felt like I needed to look over my shoulder. Constantly. I thought I was imagining things at first, but after hearing gunfire and seeing a crowd scatter one afternoon in front of the hospital, my concerns were validated. I was so ready to leave the city that I felt both dread and relief as I took the train to my last shift, an overnight. I got off at my stop and went to walk up the steps, and realized the man in front of me had stopped to urinate in the public stairwell. I was disgusted and irritated, but felt like that incident was pretty symbolic of my whole Philadelphia experience.

I survived the shift and was THRILLED to pack up my crap the next morning, take a cab to the train station, and take the Amtrak to NYC. I find New York to be beautiful and amazing compared to the turd that is Philly. This probably, in part, has something to do with the kindness and generosity my family has shown me during my time there. They took me in and pampered me (again), and I was able to spend some time with my grandmother as well. Early in the week of Thanksgiving I interviewed at Maimonides, and then took a train to Baltimore to interview at U of Maryland (which was AWESOME). On Wednesday we went upstate to a country house, where we celebrated the holiday. Aaron flew in on Thanksgiving Day, and ended up on the same train upstate with Jackson. We had a great time, ate way too much, played some great games, but it was a little sad not being with my parents and Ashley on Thanksgiving. I'm sure I've missed holidays before because of work, but usually we celebrated a few days later. This might have been the first we missed completely. I wish they could have been there too.

Aaron and I left early Saturday morning so that he could go to a rehearsal before his Sunday barbershop concert at CARNEGIE HALL. Awesome, no? The concert was hilarious, and the venue was impressive. I'm so glad he was able to take advantage of this opportunity--even though we were (are) poor, it was worth it.

We flew back on Tuesday on different airlines. Aaron got stuck at O'Hare due to fog, so I thought I'd go hang out with him during my layover--until I realized I was actually at Midway, and that wasn't going to work. Oops. My flight took off as planned, and Aaron missed a day of school he hadn't planned to. Oops again.

I spent 2 weeks doing plastic surgery, which was...weird...and then started FP/UC. Being at home, seeing Aaron every day, and sleeping in my own bed, was FABULOUS. Somewhere in that time I found out that I was found FIT for duty and my scholarship was reinstated. We rejoiced, but then on Dec 18 the military match assigned me to a civilian transitional year. I was bummed, but more concerned than anything since I hadn't received any interviews for TY programs. I resolved not to worry about it until after the holidays. We spent an entire week with our families for Christmas, and again ate too much. Mom, Aaron, Ashley, Meme and I went to a movie that week, and I think we played Monopoly at least twice. Aaron put together some Minute to Win It games for his family, and we had a great time overall. I always hate leaving.

We were extremely boring on New Years Eve, with just the 2 of us drinking champagne and going to bed at approximately 12:01am. I did some frantic emailing and managed to drum up 2 transitional year program interviews, both in Des Moines. I completed the FP/UC rotation, and then did 2 weeks with the State Medical Examiner, which was pretty fascinating. It was a great anatomy review, and pretty eye opening as far as the things people do to themselves. People with suicide pacts, being able to see fatty liver disease and coronary artery disease with my own eyes--it made me want to go work out right then.

Currently, I'm about halfway done with a 2 week rotation in anesthesia. I don't have a lot of motivation now as my 4th year is winding down, but my preceptor seems to think I should work at least a little. Bleh. So that brings us to the present day. I'll end here, but here's some pictures of the adventures the Ely's have had since my last post. I can't find any of Aaron's Carnegie pictures on my laptop, so that will have to come next time!