>

I have had several people wonder what the medical school experience was like for the rest of my family. I have been married 13 years and have four kids. The girls are Morgan, 10, Macey, 9, and McKenzie 7 months. My little boy is Manning and he is 4 and a half years old. Manning has had a severe seizure disorder since birth and has never been able to make much developmental progress due to daily seizures and abnormal brain waves. My wife Angie, is a saint among women. She provides him the constant care he requires as well as taking care of the rest of us. In response to several requests, she has done a couple of diary entries herself this weekend, and they are the two entries posted prior to this one. If you have been interested in her perspective, give them a look!

I am burned out. I just spent a marathon week of studying that was probably my most productive week of the year so far. We took our Biochem Final exam Friday and our first Histology exam today. We still have a National Board in Biochem on Thursday to get through, but then I will finally have a chance to catch my breath for a few days. Two whole weeks before our next exam!
We start two new classes this week, Psychiatry and Physiology. I have always kind of had a lurid fascination for the panorama of odd behaviors that people can exhibit, so I think I’ll find the Psych class pretty interesting. It is really amazing to me how physical phenomenon going on in the brain can manifest themselves through strange behavior. I don’t know much about Physiology but it seems like a real meat and potatoes type of course for a would be doctor. I guess I better get into it also.

Our oldest girls had their first basketball game in a local Youth league tonight. It is the first year for each of them to play in an organized league and we had a blast. I am sort of helping to coach so I got to sit on the bench. They play in a three-on-three half court league. We won 27-22 in a pretty well played game for 9 and 10 year olds. My oldest daughter scored four points and played good defense. Her little sister never saw a shot attempt she didn’t like and scored 12 or 14. I lost track. She apparently believes in my philosophy – you can’t get hot unless you shoot it.

It felt great to take a night off. It is only 10:00 PM and I’m headed for bed!