Only 364 Days More

Today marks the first day of Go's last year of his plastic surgery residency. Five years down, just one more to go. I want to say I can't believe that the last year is already here, but I can. I totally believe it. It's been an incredibly long five years and to be honest, I've been waiting for the end since the day it started. Before we began med school, everyone told us how hard and bad it would be, but to our delight and surprise, it wasn't as hard or as bad as we were told. Then, when they heard he was entering into a surgical subspecialty residency, we were told how hard and bad that would be and we kind of didn't believe them, based on our previous experience with medical school, but you know what? It's been worse. It's drained us in every way possible, brought us both to our wits end and on more occasions then we would have liked, made us question if it was worth it, if our family could survive this, would our children have a good relationship with him even though they often go multiple days at a time without seeing him, could he sustain such an unhealthy lifestyle of not sleeping every third night and only eating two meals a day, why did we choose such a difficult road, and how could we possibly come out of this without being completely hardened? I believe it was only with the help of Heavenly Father that we've been able to do it and this coming year will be no exception. I'm grateful we stuck with it. I'm grateful we stuck together. I'm grateful we've almost made it through. We're so close to the end. Now the question--was it worth it? I've been able to view his handy work mostly through pictures; pictures of people badly wounded by unfortunate events: car and motorcycle accidents, power tool accidents, dog bites, gun shot wounds, chronic wounds, deformities, cancer. The before pictures are often heart breaking and horrific. The pictures post surgery are amazing and full of hope with meticulous and carefully crafted stitches, and then the pictures of the healed wounds--the scars are minimal and sometimes barely there. What he does for his patients, what it must mean for people to regain their body, along with some sense of normalcy, that makes it all worth it. Suddenly I don't question a single thing and take the nights spent without him, the literal and figurative heavy lifting done alone and am grateful he has such a gift to be able to help people in a way that not many others can. He is a skilled, highly trained artist and I am humbled that I've been able to travel this road with him. The quote stated by Gaspare Tagliacozzi in1570, who is considered the father of modern day plastic surgery rings true: "We restore, rebuild, and make whole those parts which nature hath given but which fortune has taken away. Not so much that it may delight the eye, but that it might buoy up the spirit, and help the mind of the afflicted."

Just one more year of further training and he will be ready to go out on his own. We've decided to open a reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery practice in Las Vegas. Apparently we are fond of the road less travelled, aka - the harder one. But I believe that all the hardships we've endured will have made us stronger, that they've been for our good. It's made us a more cohesive couple and family; we're ready to start another tough adventure after this one is through. I'm proud of all he's accomplished and can't wait to see the great things that are in store for him and our family.