Match Day Results

It has been a BIG week of big changes in the house of the Sibley three that is for sure.

First, our lease runs out here at the duplex at the end of April due to the anticipation of Match Day. This had us running around trying to make baseline plans if we matched here in Minnesota for medical school. My company also started major layoffs two weeks ago, that took with it my dreams of ever working part time there in the future.

So, last Thursday I took a day off from work, and Ted and I along with every other 4th year medical student in the entire United states congregated at exactly the same time to open our envelope and learn our fate for the next 3 years.

And the results???? We are off to Kansas City, Missouri where Dr. Sibley will be on staff at Truman Medical Center in downtown KC. We had wanted to be here at Regions Hospital in St Paul but it just wasn't in the cards for us. We were excited to receive our 2nd choice (lots of people in ER ranked at their 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc spots).

Now before all of our MN friends and family give us the sad face, here are the reasons why this is a GOOD THING.

1) Lucas will have his mommy full time. VERY IMPORTANT.
2) The cost of living is very different than MN. We have found many lovely apartments in much better parts of town than we live in now.
3) We didn't lose ALL family with this move (as we would have in any of our other options). We'll be hanging out with Uncle Evan a lot.
4) Nice climate! I'm looking forward to being able to hang out at a pool for more than 3 weeks of the calendar year.
5) This gives Ted his first fresh start away from the home town he grew up in, went to undergrad in, and went to medical school in.
5 1/4) Per Ted: "The Royals still stink. The Twins will still beat them. We can be there to watch."

So as you can see, although we are sad to wave goodbye to Minnesota, this is a good fit for our family.

So when is all of this going to happen anyway?

4/14- Erin heads to KC for 2 days to drive around with Uncle Evan and figure out what's going on and find us someplace to live
4/19- Lucas' Bday party in MN
4/25- boxes are moved out of duplex
4/27- big furniture is out of duplex
5/2- Graduation Day

** During this time period we're homeless and living out of suitcases****

5/24-6/1- We are being graciously flown to Tucson, AZ to visit Auntie Laurie

6/6- Erin's last day at Uline (tentatively)

6/8- give or take a few days we leave for KC in the big truck.

6/23- Ted's First Day

Ted will be done forever with day care services as of 5/1 when Daddy is done with school (yay!).

So MN friends and family, fear not, for you will be seeing lots of Erin and Lucas as we tour the midwest for the next 3 years. I plan to be up for all FANA events!!! Very important!

So I leave you with overwhelming amounts of cuteness...

AS LUCAS IS 11 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!



Lucas and Daddy were ready for a walk around Como!



We also enjoyed a visit from Grandma over the weekend. Here is some pictures of our time from Don Pablos last night.

"Chip lady??? Chip lady come back!"



"But Mommy... I have half of one tooth on the top now... so I can have chips and salse too??? Pretty please???"



Mommy and Grandma



We part with one more picture from Match Day when Mommy and Daddy were at Solera.

Wrapping it all up

Hello everybody,

This may be my last post before I head back home to the family. This trip has really pushed myself in ways that I did not expect. From only speaking Spanish for 3 weeks, leaving my wife and son, traveling by bus and ¨collectivos¨ 2 hours away from Cusco, and being able to experience tons of history and culture I was only minimally aware of before I left. Its been a great trip, but I think I´m ready to come home and be with my family once again.

Last week I spent the entire time in the hospital. Each day I would rotate in different areas of the hospital: Infectious disease, GI, Cardiology, and 2 days with Tropical Medicine. I was able to return in the afternoon to go to the Emergency Department and see what rolled in the door. It was more of a learning experience than actually doing medical things for me. There are plenty of students, residents, and staff to go around that run things at the hospital. But, it was definately eye-opening to see what they have to work with. The luxuries that we just order for our patients in the States aren´t quite the same here. If someone needs a CT scan they can maybe get it in... oh 2 or 3 days once their family has the money for it. And once they do - what do we do with it. There were many patients we saw who had intracerebral hemorrhaging but no Neurosurgery here in Cusco and they didn´t have the money for a procedure anyways. The thing that struck me the most is that besides tropical medicine, most of the patients we saw here have the same diseases we see in the States - they are just further along the process. Outlook for a lot of the patients is decent - but a fair amount won´t make it much longer because of the delayed diagnosis and lack of primary care in their lives.

I did get to see how a trauma is run at Hospital Regional. It was pretty interesting. 3 men were ¨carried¨ into the ¨trauma bay¨ by a relative. They all layed on a bed while the nurses cleaned up the blood on their faces and arms. There wasn´t a doctor in there for a good 10-15 minutes. They wanted me to observe, but it was hard considering nobody was assessing the ABCs of trauma. They were rolling these guys all over the table to clean them off without proper evaluation of their C-spine! Finally some of the residents showed up, ordered some labs and x-rays and placed the patients in observation. Totally different than what we are taught! They were alive the next day when I showed up, so maybe they know something we don´t about trauma management.

This past weekend I was able to go to Machu Picchu. It was a great day - pricey - but still a must see. I left at 6AM for a 2 hour bus ride, then a 2 hour train ride, and then a 30 minute bus ride up the mountain. Once we got there we had to hike another 20 minutes to the city. It was all well worth it. We divided into 2 groups, spanish and english, and had a 2 hour tour. Our tour gide was great and gave us a lot of history and insight into the city. After the tour we were allowed to roam about the city and do whatever we wanted (to an extent). I was able to climb all over the place and get some great pictures. Finally, after exerting myself for a couple of hours in sparce oxygen, I climed one of the mountains next to the city and sat for about an hour with another couple from Atlanta and enjoyed the view - right next to the Alpacas. While we were up there the sun came out and a rainbow formed from the river in the valley up into the mountains. It was a great view!

Yesterday Haydee, my host, and I went up into the mountains (again) to see some of the ruins closer to Cusco. I was able to see some of the sacrificial temples and the Incan fortress up close. They even light them up at night for added effect. We even got some great pictures of Christo Blanco who overlooks the city, very similar to the one in Brasil. We ended the day playing volleyball, soccer, and dodgeball with her friends and their kids. They tore me apart in soccer, but I got my revenge in dodgeball. Those Peruvians don´t know how to throw a good ball overhand!

Today I tried to go back to Quiquijana and learn about the vertical birthing that they do in the country, but the road was torn to pieces about an hour outside the city. There were 11 of us packed into a sedan for 2 hours and we were stuck in a small town in the middle of nowhere. I finally made it back to Cusco - via collectivo, walking, a taxi, and a bus.

That´s all for now. It takes forever to load pictures here in Cusco so I´ll be sure to add them when I get back.

Getting Ready for Dad to come home!!

Well... this is another post that's intended for Ted down in Peru. We're still just hangin in there! We miss Daddy a lot, but we're enjoying each other's company that is for sure :-)

The pictures below are just of play time today and then Lucas' bath.



These are just a few pictures of playing "drums" on the play mat with empty Similac cans and Mom's wooden spoon...



Then we thought Mom was pretty funny during morning Cheerio time...





A little self portrait while in the Bjorn...





So our little boy is quite the Water Man. He has learned just how to make splashes... all of the time. Don't give him a bath unless you feel like participating!!!