There has been a lot of hours spent at the hospital this month. But, I have to say that by doing so, I've had a lot more sweet moments with the family
I’m going to start by dumping a slew of photos from the
fourth of July on here.
Tom and Riggs were at home with the end of their COVID quarantine
time, but Adler and I were a solid 7 days out from the start of our symptoms,
so we felt it was best for us to get out of the house!
We went to the celebration hosted by the town of Bellaire (just about 10 min from our house). We started with the kids bike parade where Adler got to ride her bike. She was a little more scared that I would have hoped (she kept thinking the fire trucks honking behind us were needing us to move out of the way. Which, is quite logical and was actually very cute despite the near melt down multiple times during our 4 block parade route).
Once we ended the parade we were met with a lot of fun at the end.
The festival had everything!
From free slices of watermelon
To $1 cotton candy as big as your face (which she had neve rhad before and she was instantly hooked)
To a petting zoo, complete with a deer!
We got to paint rocks, build pinwheels, and the best part of all (according to adler) was the bubble pit!
What do you get when you put a bunch of toddlers together on
a really hot day into a pool of bubbles? A lot of giggles!
Perhaps her favorite part (after getting over the sadness of having to get out of the bubble pit) was being able to walk through the grass covered in bubbles and the hose-spray-down she got to get clean
After the holiday weekend, we had several fun get-togethers including one with all the fellows, including the newest members of the MD Anderson family that just started on July 1st.
As you can see from the photo, there’s a lot of little ones in the group. So, while it’s not quite the same tight-knit group from residency, it’s pretty close and we've got 2 more on the way this year! 😊.
Then of course came the highlight of the year for Adler: No Parents Allowed! The weekend every kid dreams of – getting to spend a weekend at a lake with all of your cousins where the rule are thrown out the window (for the most part) and you just get to eat sugared cereal, hot dogs, and smore’s and play until you pass out.
This year was no exception. Tom flew Adler to Montana, then Nana and Papa drove her to Idaho while Tom worked from “home” there. Adler was enthralled to be there and just fit right in with all the shenanigans I’m sure. She’s not telling any secrets about what went on, but in fitting with the name of “no parents allowed” I’d say that’s how it should be right?
Riggs and I held down the fort at home but not without some SIGNIFICANT help from my co-fellow Samantha (aka Sam) and Jay who live just down the road from our house. It’s amazing how much they stepped in to help me.
Since daycare doesn’t open until 7 am, there isn’t much wiggle room for when I need to leave the house before 6 am (some days). Sam arrived promptly at our house in the wee hours and took Riggs to school and was sort of on “stand by” for about 5 days where I would just text her if it looked it itw as going to be impossible for me to go get Riggs in time before daycare closed.
It led to a lot of play time for Maggie and him (who, as a reminder are only 48 hours apart in age and are looking more and more like twins from the back these days).
She and Jay changed him, fed him, and put up with his tantrums for the week and I’m eternally grateful. I’m also grateful that despite all of that I was able to put him down for bed each night which kept him more on a normal routine (and was so healthy for me too!)
I think we exponentially increased the number of selfies that he and I have had together during the week apart from Tom and Adler as we kept trying to say hi and keep them in the loop on how we were doing back at home.
But being apart, whether because of travel, dental visits, or because of my work schedule, makes all the little things that much more sweet.
Playground giggles
Bed times and tooth brushing
Soccer practices and snack time,
and sunglass wearing are all so much more special
For now, I’m working at the county hospital (not MD Anderson
directly) for the month of August. It’s slated as “the easy” or “lighter”
rotation for the two years. We work there 4 months out of the 2 years. Welp, so
far my black cloud has continued and it’s been nothing but easy or “light” but
maybe it will all even out in the wash. For now, I am focusing on the sweet
moment from above and know that it’s all an investment in my future and the
future of my patients. I'm grateful to have two co-fellows by my side that are level-headed and a great support system for me.
I'm grateful for a lot of things and as I head towards the rest of August, I'm already counting down the days until September for more reasons than one. 1. It will be closer to being Fall in Houston where hopefully the daily temps will go below 90 and 2. It will be time for our vacation back to the PNW! For now, I'll keep testing out which gear makes me happiest in the OR-- including this new headlamp that is exponentially more lightweight than the traditional ones given to us by the fellowship that really give you a neck-ache after wearing them for 11 hours! Here's to looking like a total nerd, but learning to safely make cancer history.
And if anyone is worried about us and Hurricane season here in Houston - rest assured we have a lot of supplies, and a bug-gun wielding toddler to shield us. So, I think we're good :)
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