gratitude

last week was one of those weeks where nothing seemed to go right. and to compound things, i was floored by the worst flu since freshers' flu (october 2011). so coming back from the high that was easter break in ecuador was made worse by the mister leaving the day after for a work trip. now i'm immensely grateful for a husband who works so hard to support our little family of two. it's never easy for the sole breadwinner, much less when married to a huge financial liability. someone asked recently where i'd be if i hadn't met him and the truthful answer is without him signing me up for the medsch entrance exam, and first actively encouraging me to apply, then actually take the offer when i was accepted, i'd be a commercial litigator or a starving pro bono lawyer for mistreated migrant workers but that's another story for another day. it's beyond incredible to have found someone 101% supportive, who lights up when he talks about me doing medicine. so many times i've overheard him tell people how happy he is that i'm here, and how it's something he can see me being very good at. which's why despite being great with long-distance for so long, it's increasingly hard when he goes away.

especially when it's been rough week! that said, i'm just grateful for the luxury of more time off. the fact that i could lie in bed all day for one week (and counting!) goes to show that there's nothing else i need to be doing, nowhere else i need to be. there's no way i'd be afforded so much time off if i was working. our schedule's lightened considerably since first year and i find myself trying to convince people that "yes, i'm a full-time medical student..." and "no, it's not a correspondence course!" which in and of itself are little blessings to have time on my hands for a change. fortunate to be able to take things slow this term (although this might bite me in the backside come year-end exams in exactly a month!) and genuinely enjoy what i'm doing. there's a beauty to the systematic rigour that is medicine, one i'm trying to tease out and appreciate for what it's worth. 

of course, there's the amazing three month summer break to look forward to and while it's my last 'long' break, i start clinicals in september. which, really, is when you start to feel like a medic. so i'm pretty psyched. but before i get ahead of myself, summer is looking pretty darn amazing. starting with a trip home, cordon bleu-bound cousin and faraway friends in london for foodie adventures then spending our first anniversary (!!!) in spain, a week in paris and around a bit later on, phuket and somewhere exciting for the summer bank holiday. so things are looking up despite the stuffy nose and scratchy throat. i dare not go to the GP despite being ill for a week because the last time i went with an URTI (upper respiratory tract infection) i was told to man up and go home. neither of which i appreciated then, or now for that matter, but i guess there's something to be said for paracetemol, lots of fluids and rest.

and every time i feel like lapsing into self-pity (i know, pathetic!) i tell myself the life i traded for this one would be much worse. so thank you God.