Take it in bite sized pieces and expect for things to be hard.
Most of my husband’s rotations would last for two months. Some rotations were brutal, others were more manageable. Surviving residency meant that I had to break it down and not see the whole seven years at once. During those more brutal rotations, I would continually tell myself, “You can do anything for a month. A month is only four weeks and you can do anything for a week.” All I had to do was make it to the next rotation and then I just had to make it to the next rotation. And then he would have a vacation week and we’d be okay again.
I also expected things to be hard. I know that sounds silly, but I really think that one of the reasons we made it through so well is that I knew exactly what I was signing up for. When I was in college, many of my friends thought that the idea of marrying a doctor was glamorous. When I married a pre-med student, I knew exactly what I was signing up for and that it was in no way glamorous. When we chose general surgery residency, I expected it to be hard. So when it turned out to be hard, I was prepared for that. {Lesson 6}
