BIG NEWS: Josh can drive again!
After 6 weeks of complete non-weight-bearing he has been cleared to start with 25% body weight and progressively increase each week by 25% over the next 4. Since pressing on the gas/brake pedal is a force far below body weight, he tested it out in the parking lot and felt completely fine.
HOORAY for two drivers!
AND HOORAY for some positive news!
I’m doing some reflecting on the summer. I don’t think any season of life can truly be called a fail (I mean — I’m still here, right?) but wow was it not what I signed up for. There is, of course, no guarantee that Q4 will go according to any preset agenda either. But I am going to lean into what I DO have control over, and I want to approach the season with a spirit of restoration and even healing, even though I don’t have my own fracture to mend.
I will do some thinking about what that looks like (between pages today — the busy call week continues!) but I think a lot of it has to do with managing expectations, focusing on doing what I CAN do to live the best life I can each day (for myself and others!) and also not putting more on my plate than is reasonable. Back to school is always a busy season, but I cannot dive in headfirst into mayhem after the summer we just experienced. I need to set boundaries, protect time to work/think/rest, and ask for help when needed.
THOUGHTS ABOUT OVERSTIMULATION: I had previously come to recognize that a lot of my call struggles have to with overstimulation and hypervigilance (well, along with not the world’s best tolerance for interrupted sleep). In the past, I have dealt with this very purposefully by limiting inputs to the extent possible. I remember a very busy but overall fantastic call week (here it is – Jan 2024!) where I very purposefully kept away from screens and set boundaries and it truly WORKED to keep me centered.
I have not treated my last couple of call weeks that way. Instead, I’ve sort of hoped for magic that would make them fall on the less busy side of the spectrum. But both the June week and this week have been quite busy (including the overnights), and I have struggled on every front.
I have 16 24-hour days of call left in 2026. I hope to treat these as a personal experiment of sorts, to see if I can get back to the place I was in January 2024. I truly believe limiting my inputs here is key. No more frenetic text conversations. No consulting my phone for a random dopamine hit. No more scrolling and checking. During these 16 days, I want to avoid any ‘optional’ activities beyond what truly serves my own self-care.
Here we go.
And more thoughts on Q4 to come!
ENJOYING THIS:
8 Comments
If you ever get to visit Japan, the Hyatt Regency Hakone has a nice onsen, and you can use Hyatt points to stay there. It’s not all that far from Tokyo via train. Great news on getting your second driver back! I am sure he is as thrilled as you are!
Now THAT is a hot points+miles tip! Thank you Beth!!
We are doing Japan in June 2027 and I was just researching this hotel to hopefully book on Hyatt points! I am also dying to try an onset but am not sure my two teenagers will be as excited (most of them don’t allow swimwear!).
That’s some real progress!
Yes I also notice that the more stressed I get the more I feel the need to scroll, and the more mental stress I get. It’s like a vicious cycle.
I hope to adopt the habit of grabbing a book instead of phone one day.
The book looks so interesting, will check it out.
it’s lovely, I thought I knew a good deal about Japanese culture but def still learning more. (I am a huge Marie Kondo fan and I know she is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I will basically read anything she puts out!)
My least favorite thing at work is when I get like 7 messages simultaneously, the nurse or surgeon is still seeing the patient at 7 when I get to work (and still seeing them at 7:25… and then is like, “anesthesia, why are you taking so long,” at 7:30). It’s seriously overstimulating, all while I have to maintain perfect pediatric customer service persona, and something I really wanted to get better about letting things slide off my back. If you have any insights as you do your experiment with you call weeks please lmk because I do this every damn day and I hate it.
Woo hoo! Having had a somewhat similar situation with unplanned surgery and no driving by spouse at a very busy time of year, I know what a victory it is to get them back to driving. We unfortunately did 3 rounds of this in one year. Do not recommend. Hope you can regroup for the season that is back to school.
Hooray for good news. I am happy to hear that Josh’s recovery is going well and that he can drive again. That must be a relief, for you and him!
And I hear you on the “input overload”… it’s hard to manage that sometimes but as you know from personal experience, it can be done and it can be helpful! Good luck!