Courage
What does it mean to be courageous? To me it invokes the stories of soldiers conquering distant lands, fighting for freedom, being self-sacrificial but I think I have been more deeply attuned to this quality as I have interacted with many patients as they deal with some of the most saddening and painful experiences of their lives.
I’ll be honest – most of the patients and the families I have cared for over the years in the hospital are not courageous. I’m not sure I’d be much different if confronted with the reality of death, of a lifetime of suffering, of losing someone dear to me. Most people come to the emergency room unexpectedly – they were not planning on being in the ER. Most of the patients that come in from a trauma or suddenly get sick come in pain, crying, asking for comfort – they are scared. So it is very noticeable to me when I encounter a patient or a family member that faces the problem head on – finding the courage to face their fate.
Medical Mission Trip to North India
First a couple of quick updates. We just attended the Global Health Missions Conference (GHMC) that gathers together every year during the 2nd week of November in Louisville, KY. It was a time of much needed spiritual encouragement and a time to meet with several organizations that we have been considering partnering with in order to facilitate our return back to India. The conference is the largest of its kind in the US with over three thousand medical professionals that have a heart to serve in medical missions here and overseas. The last speaker we heard yesterday, Dr. Carol Spears, was especially encouraging to hear about how God has worked in her life and through her sufferings to call her to a life of mission service in Kenya.
We also wanted to let all of you know that we have set into motion most of the things that need to happen for us to go to India in early 2011 to work at two missions hospitals that are part of the EHA network of hospitals.
The Dog Days of Summer
So the end of July and August has been unbearably hot in Texas. I believe we've had almost two weeks of greater than 100 degree weather! Our plants are wilting and so are our spirits as we try to stay indoors as much as possible. I finally had some time to work on some of the pictures from our big road trip to the west and northwest coast which I've uploaded along with this post. I think I've got a couple hundred more pictures to look through to get to the end of our trip and then I can start taking some new pictures!
Happy 4th of July Weekend
Its 12:30 at night and both Melissa and I have decided to be late night owls tonight and risk our sleep by staying up way too late since the kids will be up in 6-7 hours like clockwork. I'm officially now a 3rd year resident at Parkland and Karuna is now officially a 6 year old. Karuna had a great party about a week ago celebrating her 6th birthday with many of our friends and family. Per Karuna's choice we had pizza from a local pizza place called Oak Cliff Pizza and it was an instant hit.
Welcome to 2010…6 Months Late…
As you might have figured out from the lack of posts, the 2nd year of EM residency at UTSW is the hardest year and thus the multiple months away from the writing desk. But do not worry...I've been collecting up plenty of interesting stories over the past 7 months from my great patients and will have some good ones to share soon.
Finally an Update
No we have not disappeared to the ends of the earth or gone missing. It has been many months since we updated the blog mainly because of the demands of residency and taking care of three very active children but don't worry we're doing well...maybe I should rephrase that...surviving my second month of all night shifts in the ED.
A quick overview of the last few months:
- Vivek is now 9 months old, we cannot believe how interactive he has become
- Karuna and Luke started their second year of homeschooling and are loving every minute of it
- I finished one month of night shifts in the ER, a month of day shifts in the ER, a month in the ER at Baylor Dallas and am now on a second month of nights at Parkland/Childrens
- Melissa helped to start up a Side by Side chapter in Dallas three weeks ago and they are going through the book Sacred Marriage
- We harvested our crops from the past year incluiding 4 honey dew melons, lots of raspberries (they are still bearing for us) and strawberries, and ate our first pomegranate from our tree
- I traveled to Boston for a week to attend the annual American College of Emergency Medicine conference
- We traveled to Nebraska for a week to visit Melissa's family
Christine & Stan Mathew Wedding Pictures
Just wanted to post some pictures from my sister Christine's wedding at the end of June. I'm just finishing my two weeks on the neonatal resuscitation team after I finished two weeks in the burn ICU. Both have been good rotations but definitely some long hours in the ICU. I'm starting a month of nights back in the ER starting on Monday. Melissa is still sleep deprived as Vivek still wakes up 2-3 times a night to eat but we'll start solid food with him in a couple more weeks and so I'm hoping he will sleep a little more soundly.
David & Lacy’s Wedding Picture
Just a quick post to put up some of the pictures from Melissa's brother David's wedding at the end of May. I'll try to post a longer post soon after I finish my rotation in the burn ICU.
Christine’s Wedding
Well it appears that I've gone blog crazy over the last few days since I've posted now three times this week...thankfully this excessive blogging will end soon for our blog readers as soon as I start a brutal week of multiple call days at the cardiac ICU at the VA. Today was a very special day for us as we got to rejoice with my sister, Christine, as she married her new husband, Stan Mathew.
Pictures from Disney World
We have a busy weekend coming up with my sister Christine's wedding but before the festivities begin today we wanted to post some long overdue pictures from our friend's George & Kara Morris' wedding and our trip to Florida to visit Disney World. Have a great weekend!
