David had a pretty good schedule at the beginning of this month. The bad thing about a good schedule, I am finding, is that you always end up paying for it. Since he had his four days off in the first two weeks of May that means that he has no days off for the rest of the month...it also means that he is working Memorial Day weekend. David's job has given me a whole new view of holidays. They are beginning to mean "days when people drink alcohol and do stupid things and either end up in the hospital or putting other people in the hospital". It does make for interesting dinner conversation. David was on call on Friday which means that out of Friday and Saturday we got to see him for about three hours. At dinner, we heard about the man who took a nasty fall and broke some facial bones and has been leaking fluid from his brain out of...somewhere (his nose I think). Then there was the man who got shot and David spent two hours up to his elbows inside the man's belly, squeezing his aorta, while two other surgeons searched for the source(s) of all the bleeding. I asked "How did you know it was his aorta, how did you find it?" He told me how to find it, although I hope I never have to do it. I don't remember what we had for dinner but I was glad it wasn't spagetti. (I guess there are some good things about Anne being allergic to tomato sauce.)I had been considering telling him about some of my day, but it all seemed so trivial after that. None of what I do is anywhere near as intimidating as what happens to him on a regular basis.
Today is Sunday and David is on call again which means that out of today and tomorrow we will see him for an hour or two tomorrow. He managed a 60 second phone call from the hospital at 10:00 tonight - I guess he had a few second lull while a woman who came in as a trauma patient was in the CT scanner. I was baking a chocolate cake and mixing up pretzel jello for the neighborhood picnic tomorrow. So, David is spending the weekend putting in central lines, IV's and chest tubes and I am changing diapers, giving baths, saving kids when Anne poops in the bathtub again, scrubbing, cooking, folding, making funny face sandwhiches, feeding a baby, breaking up fights, figuring out what in the world I can feed Anne that is wheat, dairy, rice, tomato, chocolate and citrus free and admiring craft papers.
I like my job. The kids and I have a pretty good time together most days. Any time David has a day off we call it vacation and it is the best time of the month. I am looking forward to tomorrow and hearing more of his stories at supper. When my Mom was here last month I got to go down to the hospital one of the nights he was on call and meet him for an hour. David went up to put an IV in someone and I got to go and watch. It was the first time I have ever been with him while he is working at the hospital. I honestly cannot imagine what surgery must be like. Maybe someday I will get to go and watch, but for now I guess I will be content with hearing about some of it.
Kristi
2 comments:
OOOOHH MAN!!! What a different perspective David and now you have for surgeons, holidays, etc. We are looking foreword to the time when we get to see all of you again, but in the meantime, your posts and pictures will suffice. You both are great writers, and funnyyyyy!!! Thanks for keeping us up-to-date and informed on life there on the Carne ranch.
Your post sure brought back memories to me. Rocky isn't a Dr. but when my girls were little he was almost always "on call" and working strange hours, usually taking shifts to make more money. It's hard for awhile, but it does get better. Now he takes short-notice shifts because they pay him insanely large amounts of money to come in, and he gets tired, but the extra money is so good because we can afford extra projects! Keep pressing on, and remember being a mother is probably the most important job that there is. God gives us the joy of bringing up more Christian's to preach the gospel.
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