2011 June/July- North

The first couple of weeks of June were some of the most dramatic in my life. My board exam was scheduled for Tuesday the 7th. Just to remind you, this test covers 2 years worth of material. It is an 8 hour test and costs $500 to take. I think I’ve said that before, I only mention it to emphasize that it is a big deal; if I didn’t pass it I would not be allowed to continue with my rotations. On Saturday (T minus 3 days) I got very sick and had to go back to the ER! When I went to the ER back in April I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days; well I didn’t have 4 days this time, I needed to be able to sit for that exam. Needless to say, many prayers were said. In the ER they said that it was probably my Crohn’s acting up. They gave me some medications to help me get through the attack and sent me back home. I felt well enough to go to church on Sunday, and do some studying on Monday. I drove with a friend to Charleston Monday. Tuesday morning I was feeling about like normal and was able to sit for the exam. During the last couple of hours of the exam my stomach started acting up again. When we finally reached home I was feeling pretty bad again. Well, my stomach was feeling bad, but the rest of me was so happy and relieved to have that test out of the way.

Wednesday through Thursday we spent packing our belongings and tying up the loose ends. On Saturday we loaded the moving truck and moved an hour West to Beckley, WV. My health held up enough to get the job done. We spent the rest of the month of June unpacking and getting situated. We are living in a house now. This is the first time in our marriage that we live in a structure without other families. We absolutely love our house. It’s a little bit old, but it is such a big step up from where we were living before. We have a big yard, a garden, a grape vein (I don’t know the first thing about juicing or preserving grapes, but I think we’ve found someone to teach us), a large basement, a deck, and even a golf cart so we can go for rides around the yard. We are very happy. Becky posted pictures of our house on our blog, swing over some time and check it out.

I started my rotations the first week of July. I’m rotating in a small family practice office. The doctor I’m with does family practice and his wife does pediatrics in the same building. He takes time everyday to teach me and go over things we’ve seen that day. I’m learning a lot and enjoying it much more than classroom instruction. 2 weeks into July we got the happy news that I passed my board exam. O happy day! We went out for ice cream to celebrate. My score wasn’t as high as I would have liked, but considering the circumstances I was happy just to pass.

I’m now a month into my rotations and loving it. My health problems have not entirely gone away, but I’ve only had to miss one day of work. Becky and Sophie are doing very well. A couple of weeks ago we went and picked blueberries and Becky made a bunch of pie filling and syrup. Last week she started harvesting our green bean crop. For some reason our green beans have done really really well. We have 8 or 9 freezer bags full of them. If any of you were nearby I’d invite you to come and get some. Sophie has started crawling now. She still prefers to stay close to us, but sometimes she’ll get adventurous and explore around the house on her own.

We hope things are going well for you all.

Stewart, Becky, and Sophie