Thanksgiving

This year, I am thankful to be finally reaching the end of my training. It has been an awfully long road, so long that the sacrifices seem normal. I can't remember the last time I flew home to my parents' for Thanksgiving. That doesn't bother me per se, but rather the thought that my parents have missed out on me being home for the last eight years or so. Holiday after holiday, weekend after weekend, the hospital has become a second home, my co-residents a second family. All this changes in a little over six months, and I'm not sure how I'll take it. I've adapted to this lifestyle, and really, I love it. I enjoy the role I have in the hospital, the gradated learning, the work I do. It's immensely fulfilling and at the same time immensely tiring. I hope that when I finish fellowship, I'll find a career that offers me the same deeply satisfying work for a little better compensation and work-life balance. For that, this year, though I will be in the intensive care unit all day and all night, I am grateful.