Sept 11th

Sept 11th has two meanings for me. It will forever be remembered for the attack on the World trade Center. The date also holds good memories for me though. 10 years ago I asked a beautiful woman out for our first date. We saw the movie 9 months. The movie wasn’t all that memorable but the girl was. So I decided to marry her. That was the best decision of my life. I love you Sarah. Happy 10 year anniversary.

Hero D.O.

A recent cover of Newsweek magazine read Hero MD.  The article was about a physician who served in Iraq.  He saved lots of lives, built MASH units within the war zone, and received prestigious medals of honor.   This doctor truly is a hero.  It was a great article but the doctor was mis-represented.  He isn't a MD, he is a DO.  You would think a major publication like Newsweek wouldn't make such as error.  You also might think it isn't really a big deal but to me it is.  As you all know, I am a DO.  We go to school just as long as MD's, and train along side them in our residency programs.   I can honestly say that we stack up quite well academically to them.  For example, my school's board scores were much higher than UMKC's.  There are DO's in every specialty of medicine.  We can do everything an MD can do and we can also bill for manual medicine.  Currently 20% of all physicians in the armed forces are DO's.  So it isn't like he was a rarity.  I don't blame the general public for not knowing what a DO is because I didn't before I went to school to become one.  I feel like an opportunity to educate was missed here.  A cover story titled Hero D.O. certainly would have got some people questioning what does DO mean.  We are a minority in medicine and we need all the free publicity we can get. 

Graceland Rep

It dawned on me a few days ago that this summer will represent the 10 year anniversary of the summer I spent as a Graceland rep.  As Sarah would say “that is just wrong”.  It doesn’t seem like that long ago but when I think of how my life as changed since then I guess it is.  I met and married Sarah, I got my degree from Graceland and from medical school, started working, was called to the priesthood etc.  Isn’t it funny how so much can happen in ten years but it can still seem like yesterday in a lot of ways.  My summer as a graceland rep was great.  I got to travel to Nauvoo, Oklahoma, Lake of the Ozarks, Doniphan and still attend Bluewater.  I met lots of great people, had tons of fun, and had some terrific spiritual expereinces.  It was exhausting though.  Unless you have done it I think it is hard to explain how draining it is to make new friends, experience an emotional & spiritual high and then have to jump on a plane and do it all over again.  Back then there were not very many of us (Julie, Karen, Brooks, katie, Jen, ?, and me) so it was 9 straight weeks of camp followed by a week of Spec.  Now I hear they have like 20 reps and some weeks are spent making phone calls asking for donations.  that doesn’t sound fun at all.  My summer as a Graceland rep made me appreciate my experiences growing up at Bluewater even more.  Camps are done very differently around the country.  Some were awesome but not every camp strives to be fun AND allow for spiritual growth of the kids.  A couple I was at had no expectation of anything spiritual happening; it was almost like a YMCA camp.  I did my best to have them look at things differently.  All in all it was one of tbe best summers of my life I just can’t believe it was 10 years ago.

23eve

What is 23eve you might ask.  It is the age that I jokingly tell people that I am.  No it is not a real number,  so it can represent any age I want it to.  I recently turned 30 and have no problem being that old but 23eve is just something I made up one day.  It’s origin comes from the fact that 23 is my favorite/lucky number.  Michael Jordan was my favorite athlete as a kid and I wore 23 as my jersey number.  I have also won prizes and money betting on 23.  On a trip to Vegas I placed only one bet on a roulette wheel.  I spread my $5 on and around 23 and it hit.  For those of you who do not gamble, the odds of that happening are 1 in 38.  I think I won about 150 but we celebrated like it was a million.  Perhaps in a future blog I’ll retell the whole story.  It is quite funny how it went down.  I also like 23 because it was when I was in the best shape of my life.  I was working out with my friend Koss nearly every day and it was just a fun time before the stress of med school started.  The eve part of 23eve I stole from Saturday Night Live.  My favorite sketches of all time are the celebrity Jeopardy sketches.  On one of them the contestants are asked to list any number for their final jeopardy answer.  One of them put THREeve.  I found it hilarious.  So that’s where 23eve comes from.