Good things come to those who wait

I wrote this last night (due to yet another big storm, unable to post it until this morning)

Patience is a virtue . . . one which I admittedly have not always maintained to its full capacity.  You learn quickly working in a place like Haiti, that this is an essential asset in keeping your sanity.  The three weeks I’ve been here has been more than a test of my endurance (which I have always considered one of my better features . . . at least when it comes to running . . . I may be slow but I can go the distance!), but a test of my ability to adapt to situations I literally have no control over.

I have always joked about my life being an example of the serenity prayer . . . ‘please allow me to accept the things I can not change, change the things I can, and always be able to tell the difference between the two.’  My issue was always telling the difference between the two (I know . . . very odd . . . a doctor wanting to control everything). 

I recognize that up to this point, I have been pretty redundant . . . just my silly attempts to sound philosophical or something.  Also, without living here, it is really difficult to given clear cut examples of what I am talking about.  I’m in a country where the lifestyle is very different from what I’m used to (everything runs on island time, which means I am actually early for everything)  . . . working in a place that is not used to having a gynecologist (ie it has taken a while to enforce the concept that I can not do my job without speculums . . . they need to be sterilized every night or I can’t do what I came here to do).  Everything with patient care takes so much longer, because I am the one putting all the equipment together (although I must say now that the storage room is somewhat organized it takes a bit less time).

So my great examples as to how patience has paid off this week . . . let’s start with Carine.  After a week of not knowing when she would be here . . . having not worked with her since my first week . . . she was finally here on Monday!  Most importantly, she was doing speculum exams by Tuesday, and on Wednesday she was accurately performing VIA (now we just need to get the LEEP thing down, and maybe a few more screening exams).

Now for the finale, if you will.  Either absent or very limited internet for a week and a half . . . had no control over it, and after the first few days I was in acceptance mode.  I have been reluctant to make any statement regarding some false publications made by ABOG, as not to jinx myself in respect to my boards.  But, now I can.  Last year, the ABOG written boards publication stated that everyone taking their written boards on June 24, 2013 would receive their score no later than August 15 . . . this was a dirty lie (I found that they had changed the date to no later than September 1).  I waited patiently, and not having the internet last week actually helped prevent me from thinking about it.  It was the first thing I checked once I logged on to the inter web . . . and I passed.  Nine LONG weeks of waiting . . . the final result well worth the wait.