Stress Test

Mick came home last night and told me he's about as stressed as he's ever been: procedures and demands in the clinic, exams in classes, and studying for Boards are all taking their toll on him.

He's been staying up late, studying entire weekends, and getting up early all quarter long (and then some). He sees us for one- or two- hour stretches here and there, but generally he's been very focused on school and trying to escape the feeling of being overwhelmed.

He's also been trying to eat healthily, but hasn't exercised at all really -- not good for any human being, let alone a diabetic. Will keep working on that.

He had originally hoped to take his Boards the week before Finals (around December 9th), but that's looking impossible to him, so now he's scheduling them for a week into his (our) Christmas break (around December 20th).

Fortunately, it's not very hard to imagine how challenging it is for him to manage all of this, so I'm just grateful he was smart enough to lay it all out for me. Now I know what to expect of him (and myself) for the next month and can work accordingly.

It's also nice to remember that this is indeed what we thought we were signing up for. Mick himself said last night that he knows he's definitely not the only dental student feeling like this. It's normal to feel overwhelmed by this stuff--it just doesn't feel very good when you're in it.