It’s always taken me awhile to get ready in the mornings. I need at least an hour to be fully combobulated in the morning before work. Shower, shave, neti pot sinus rinse, iron work clothes, scramble some eggs, fry up some bacon, do the hair, eat, get dressed and get out the door with 15 minutes to drive to work. I can do it in less time, but well I like a relaxing morning. This strategy had worked great when I had to be up at work at 9, 10 or 12. In fact, that’s kind of when it evolved.
In contrast, the hospital opens at 8am, when the first patients are seen. Radiology opens even earlier, but I’m not a radiologist, so let’s be thankful for that. The thing is everyone is pretty busy throughout the day. The hospital prides itself on an integrative approach, which involves medical oncologists, radiologists, surgeons, pathologists, nurses, dieticians, counselors, pastors and naturopaths all sitting in a room discussing patient care. It’s actually pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the only time all of us are free is before work. Thus, the 7am meeting was born.
I normally only have two regularly scheduled 7am meetings a week. But if anyone wants to schedule a special meeting, guess when it is. I’m averaging about three a week. The first week, saw me adjusting to being awake at that hour. I have to admit, the first week may have seen me nodding off at one or two of those meetings. Running out the door, having woken up thirty minutes earlier, to sit in a dark room looking at slides of tissue biopsy. All the excellence in the world couldn’t keep me awake.
But we are excellent, and I really like being able to follow the MRI report at 7:15am in a dark room. So, the adjustment was bedtime is 10pm, and I wake up at 5am to start my day. This morning, I woke up at 4:59, a minute before my alarm, ready to discuss adjuvant chemotherapy and patient concerns. I might not be as bright-eyed as the people who’ve been doing this for years, but I’m awake enough to realize that.