Medical School – Emily's Musings

David J. Lesher, M.D.

Oh my gosh. I never thought this day would come.

Honestly. The light at the end of the tunnel was so dim, I couldn’t believe there was actually a light there . . .

Seven years ago (almost to the day) David told me he wanted to go to medical school. On that very day, I thought I was going to DIE. Seriously, hearing your husband say he wants to go to medical school is NOT music to your ears. It’s more like fingers scraping down the chalkboard.

But . . .

Here we are. He is OFFICIAL.

He never would have made it through school without endless support from our families (yours truly especially, but that goes without saying, right?) and lots and lots of discipline.

Three years of medical school prerequisites
Four years of medical school
300 credits to earn his M.D.
Two children born
One dog died
Nine major moves
Lived in five different states and one foreign country to complete his medical education (Saba, Utah, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York)
72 weeks of medical rotations
Approximately 115 flights during the last four years. (I’m not exactly sure how this last statement even adds up since David was not paid to go to school, but anyway . . .)

Medical School is a pricey thing, and I’m sure we’ll be spending the next 47 years paying it off, but it feels so good to be done!

To quote Elle Woods from Legally Blond, “WE DID IT!” 🙂

Congratulations Dr. Lesher!

Random Weekend

Oh boy. This week is slipping away from me. I meant to post about some fun things this past weekend, but you know . . . where did the time go?

On Friday night, Hannah and I went to the musical “Singing in the Rain” in Lehi to see my good friend Bethany who starred in it. This was Hannah’s first play, and let me tell you, SHE LOVED IT. She giggled, and rooted for everyone. We were splashed by real rain that fell from the ceiling, and that was probably her favorite part along with all the singing and tap dancing. 🙂 She was so giddy with excitement, her little body was about to burst, and part of the “bursting” was confessing her undying love for me no less than 98 times . . . that was my favorite part. Now she wants to learn how to tap dance so she can join a musical too.

On Saturday, I had an idea hit me over the head. It was like a persistent itch: I had to execute my idea to relive my brain of this cool concept.

I called Brian. (Naturally, I expect him to be available anytime I’m struck with a concept to photograph.)

I left him a message telling him my idea. I told him to clear his schedule for the next couple of hours because I was the most important thing in his life right at that moment.

Ahem. (Usually when you have to spell something out, it’s probably news to other people.)

He called me back, telling me he was on a plane, just about to take off.

Um . . . Hello? What part about “clear your schedule” wasn’t clear? And, to add insult to injury, he was off to meet his new girlfriend’s parents. (He meets EVERYONE’S parents . . . this is not serious yet.) I know my new rank now.

On Saturday afternoon, David and I went for our first barefoot run. He toughed it out and actually went barefoot for the majority of the run. I was smart and wore my five fingers from the start. 🙂 It was our first “date run.” It was actually fun, and totally apparent that David is in way better shape than I am.

Saturday night, we finally got to spend some time with our good friends Marshall and Jill. They live five houses down from us now, (this is a crazy coincidence, since we haven’t lived in the same city or state for over a decade) but it took three months for our schedules to align. We had such a great time chatting, and just hanging out together. It really is amazing how everywhere you move, there are cool people everywhere you go. We’ve been fortunate to make life long friends everywhere we’ve been. Marshall and Jill have been part of our lives since we’ve been married.

On Sunday, a really nice person got up to bare their testimony (which was really sweet) and they talked about how challenging it was to be in school full time, while their wife was in school part time, and they had a child. If I had heard this before med school, I would have thought, “Oh my! How do you even deal with it?” But, sadly, we are almost POST medical school (did you read that! SIX more weeks!) and I am totally JADED. I looked over at David and whispered, “Whatever . . . try medical school . . . average of 32 credits a semester, and 80 hour work weeks during clinicals . . . did I mention I’m in school part time too and we have two kids?”

David whispered back and me saying, “Where is your compassion?”

You see, that’s the thing, I lost compassion somewhere along the way . . . it could have been when the school screwed us over, not providing nearly enough loan money (this is not an opinion, this is a fact) or the grueling hours David has spent away from us studying, or the FOUR (COUNT THEM FOUR) cross country moves we HAD TO MAKE last year, plus the MONTHS we’ve had to spend apart as a family while David completed rotations elsewhere. My compassion was swallowed up in the process of being jaded by medical school.

I’m trying to be a better person. Maybe my outlook will improve when I see the light at the end of the never ending tunnel of medical school in six weeks.

Let’s hope.

Weekend With Some Besties

This last weekend David and I met up with some of our favorite peeps.

David and Brent (who lives in Ohio) were both invited back to Wichita, Kansas to take a second look at a residency program.

That last sentence can be interpreted the following way, “Hey, we like you guys and want you to pick our program. We’ll pay travel expenses for you and your spouse, wine and dine you, and put you in a nice hotel. Pick our program!”

We had a wonderful weekend. Why?

1. Because we spent a WHOLE weekend with some of our best friends WITHOUT ANY KIDS.

Really, do I need to say more than that? Brent and Michelle drove down from Ohio, and picked us up on the way to Wichita at the airport in Kansas City.

2. We stayed in a nice hotel and didn’t foot the bill.

3. The men worked on some hair brained schemes, while Michelle and I worked on our chit chat skills.

Did I mention we had fun?

We also liked the program, (and we’re pretty sure they liked us) so we may just end up in the same city after all! What’s better than getting a residency with your besties?

On a side note, every conversation I had this weekend went something like this:

New Person: So . . . where are you from?

Me: I’m from Utah

New Person: So . . . are you Mormon? (Said with curiosity. Am I intriguing? I’m Mormon so I guess the answer to that is YES.)

Me: Yes. Yes I am.

New Person: Do you know so-and-so (insert name of the only other Utah Mormon they have ever met.)

Me: No. I’m sorry I don’t. (But really, I’m like, HELLO! THERE ARE MORE THAN 12 MILLION MEMBERS WORLDWIDE! Lots of Mormons around!)

New Person: So . . . how long have you and David been married?

Me: It will be 13 years in July. (I know, I don’t think I’m even old enough for that!)

New Person: (SHOCK! DISBELIEF!) Gulp. Did you get married when you were toddlers!? (True story, more than FIVE count them FIVE people asked me if we got married as toddlers.)

Me: Almost! (Wondering if I should tell them I got married at 19, and just turned 32 . . .)

And this conversation happened over, and over, and over. 😉

Needless to say, we had a great weekend. When we returned, people asked us where we went and when I told them, “Wichita,” everyone responded, saying, “Is that in Kansas?” Apparently, it’s not on the map . . . yet.

Famous Neighbor

Our favorite next door neighbor (and fellow medical student) on Saba was a professional ballerina in her previous life. (Previous life refers to any period of time BEFORE you started medical school.)

Now, she wasn’t just any professional ballerina. Shannon danced with American Ballet Theater. (Affectionately referred to as ABT.) She has traveled all over the world dancing with ABT, and really is just amazing.

Her story is incredible. She started dancing at the age of 14, and was hired by ABT when she was 18. I’m just going to go ahead and do the math for you, THAT IS ONLY FOUR YEARS from the time she set foot in a ballet studio until she was dancing with the most prestigious ballet company in America. Dancing with the company at ABT with only four years experience is literally unheard of. There is so much more to her inspiring story that I haven’t shared, that I would love to write about (because it is really, really amazing) but unfortunately, it’s not my story to tell. Her story is so inspirational, that after I saw the movie “The Blind Side” I thought of her. Honestly, Hollywood needs to hear her life story and make a movie out of it.

I found this video clip of her practicing the Arabian Dance for the Nutcracker with The New Orleans Ballet Theater. (Keep in mind that she no longer dances with ABT, and remember how she’s actually a doctor now?)

After watching this video, I’m sure you understand why I never attended any of the yoga classes she taught on Saba. I’m pretty sure my lack of flexibility would have disqualified me from her class. 😉

Go Shannon!

In 2009 I’m Surprised I Didn’t Lose My Mind!

2009 sure was a crazy one.

I’d like to say, “It sure was a lot of fun!”

David is a fourth year medical student,

Which means, with his time, he is quite prudent!

I’m a photography student and stay-at-home mom.

I’ve tried to manage everything and stay calm!

In Utah, we started the year.

We lived by family, it was nice to be near.

In February, we made our first move of the year . . . Kansas City!

It was beautiful and really, really pretty!

Living in Kansas, we felt so blessed.

I still can’t believe we moved to the Midwest!

We enjoyed living in Kansas, it’s full of nice folks.

To our surprise, we learned we’d be moving to New York.

Shocked, we thought, “Is this a joke?”

We loaded our car with our kids, Paris, and other good things that we needed.

Pulled a little U-haul and off to New York we proceeded.

The kids traveled well. Paris was fine.

There were only a few times I thought I would lose my mind!

We visited some Saba friends on the way in Ohio.

We ate so much food and had so much fun, Oh my! Oh!

We loved living in Rochester. We loved it so much!

Seven short weeks was not long enough!

On our move back to Kansas, we heard some bad news.

We had to move again. We didn’t get to choose!

School regulations made it impossible to stay,

So we packed up the house much to our dismay.

We found ourselves in Utah once again this time,

David went to North Carolina, oh my! Does this even rhyme?

We are all together as a family as we speak,

Which is great for us because we love to kiss our kids’ cheeks!

Who knows what the future holds for us now.

I just know there are more moves for us, HOLY COW!

All things considered we are doing quite well.

In fact, I think my heart might swell.

Aside from the moves that have made us nomads and gypsy’s,

Other exciting things have happened that made us quite tipsy!

First, Dallin calmed down A LOT.

No more a screaming baby, who’d have thought?

Hannah sings, dances, and entertains.

She’s already worn out her first pair of ballet shoes and has a lot of brains.

David is busy, school is crazy.

Bummer for him, there’s no time to be lazy.

I started school at the Academy of Art.

Mastering photography, I’ve learned a few things to impart.

Paris has done a mighty fine job as our only family pet,

We’re not looking for another dog, at least not yet.

2009 was full of surprises,

Four cross country moves, I said a lot of “goodbyes.”

I say, “Bring on the New Year!”

Heck, I’ll even say it with good cheer!

In 2010 I just ask for one thing,

Please don’t tell me we’re moving to Beijing!

The Magic Lotion For “Special Bumps”

Do you remember when I talked about the “special bumps” that Hannah I have on our arms? The incurable Keratosis Pilaris stuff?

Well, turns out that there is something that CAN help.

Did you read that? Something CAN HELP!

It’s an over-the-counter lotion found BEHIND the counter at the pharmacy. It’s called AmLactin.

David discovered this miracle lotion while rotating at a dermatologist’s office this month.

Hannah and I started using it about two weeks ago and let me tell you . . . IT WORKS.

No more “special bumps” for us!

GO! GO! GO!

I feel a bit disconnected.

Wait, what? Did you say something? Because there are 400 other thoughts racing through my head right now and I do not have the capability to listen like a normal person.

The end of this week wraps up one crazy semester for me at AAU. (Just for the crazy record, I started out the fall semester living in New York, then we moved back to Kansas City, and then we moved to Utah. TWO OF THE MOVES WERE UNEXPECTED. Nice, huh?) And can I just say, that after all my final projects are turned in I will be able to breath a bit easier?

I have some fun projects in the works as well and I’m excited to focus more attention on them as soon as this week is over.

Deep breath . . .

To top off this craziness, David has been in and out, and back again, over and over to the point that it’s even confusing me. Just last night I ran into some of my cousins (who happen to be deaf) at a concert, (which sounds bizarre after reading the aforementioned bit of info about them) and they were like, “Hey! Where’s Dave?”

And you know, I was frantically signing apologizing for my sloppy and forgetful speech, while trying to remember State signs and grasping for words. I was like, at this moment, he is in Utah, but he’s only been here for 24 hours because he just got back from Denver, and Cheyenne, and tomorrow he will be in New York, but then he’ll be back, and he should be here for a few weeks, but then I don’t know where he will be and did I mention we’ve had FOUR major moves this year?

And it all comes out like a big run-on sentence like that. With no breaths.

It is a bit embarrassing to tell our story because we really are gypsy’s.

He is constantly on the move and it is no wonder why this little guy’s favorite word is “GO!”

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What do you call a car? GO. What do you call a ball? GO. What do you call Grandpa? GO. What do you call mommy? GO.

GO. GO. GO.

He has YET to say mommy.

He’s working on it.

I think.

Wish my husband luck at his interview in New York! This is Hannah’s location pick for residency. She asked TWICE this week when we were moving back to New York. Along with the rest of his interviews, I REALLY hope they fall in love with my husband!

Well, not fall in love with him because that would be weird . . . but you know . . . I hope they really, really like him and decide they HAVE TO HAVE him for their program.

Skin Secrets

Dermatologists are the most brilliant doctors.

Why you ask?

Because they have normal office hours (not too early, not too late), rarely have patient emergencies (rarely meaning NEVER), and sometimes they take take long weekends.

AWESOME, RIGHT?

To top it off, the office where David is rotating is just minutes down the street (and when I say minutes, I mean like three).

Basically, we’re seeing a lot of David which just so out of the norm for us.

A few days ago, Hannah stopped asking, “Is my daddy going to be here when I wake up?” (It was sort of a novelty to have David back.) And starting asking, “When is my daddy coming home for lunch?”

This rotation has spoiled us and I’m afraid we’ll be in for a shock when he starts another rotation.

So far, I’ve learned a few things about skin:

There is no known cure for Keratosis Pilaris which Hannah and I both have on our arms. We have a light case, but still, it sucks that nothing cures it.
Botox injections, while effective, still look fake and David has forbidden me to ever get them. He says he wants to SEE my expressions and not just HEAR them in my voice.
There is an over the counter product that solves many skin problems, (especially dry skin). It’s called Aquaphor.

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This little nugget of info might just save you lots of money. 😉

Up next? I’m hoping to get some insider information on adult breakouts! What the heck?! I’m not a teenager anymore!

100,000 Mile Mark

Our car hit a major milestone.

MAJOR.

Somewhere in Indianapolis, Indiana, our car hit the 100.000 mile mark.

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100, 000 miles! We bought this car five years ago brand new with seven miles on it.

We’ve been busy driving all over the USA and back again. Obviously.

After we move from Kansas City to Utah, David and our car will go on another adventure. He will be driving from Utah to North Carolina (with a stop in Wyoming for a residency interview) in three days.

I’m pretty sure that by the time all his clinical rotations and interviews are over our car will have over 200,000 miles on it.

Just a guess.

New York Called. They Want Us Back.

Remember how much I LOVED living in upstate New York?

Well . . .

David got an interview for residency in Rochester!

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We just might be heading back to Palmyra/Sodus Point/Fairport to live!

I might be a little excited about this particular interview. 🙂 (I’m also rooting for the residency in North Carolina as well . . .)

We’ll see what happens. The most important thing is that he matches in the 2010 residency match.

I’ll be happy with which ever residency he gets offered. I’m just saying I might be extra happy if he matched in Rochester. 🙂