Post Call Days for him, On-call days for me

by Mary Cassatt

Planning for MH's call days are one thing, but what do you do about the "post call" days? For you non-doctor's wives out there, "post call" refers to the day after call day. In residency, after being on call at the hospital for 24 hours, MH would come home to sleep away half of the day, and then spend the late afternoon and evening with us. Those were often really refreshing days (once he woke up) to catch up on time with Daddy, after the long separation of call.

These days, however, as an attending at a teaching hospital, MH has to work the whole post call day.  Meaning, he doesn't get to come home and sleep, he has to go straight to clinic and see patients all day. Granted, as an attending, he definitely gets more sleep at the hospital than the residents or fellows do, so working the next day is a bit more possible. But he's still exhausted, and when he gets home that night it's straight to the couch. Understandably so; if it were me, I'd be rushing straight to the bathroom, sick.

Sometimes for me, post call day is actually harder than call day, because MH is home but sort of "untouchable." I don't want to bother him with bathing the kids or doing the dishes (although he definitely has and will if needed), so in a way it's like 48 hours of "on-call" for me. It's like I have to step up to the plate, and stay there for at least 48 hours. No post call day for me!

MH works incredibly hard, and of course when he's on call, no matter whether it's a busy night at the hospital or not, he's working and not relaxing. So yes, it's much easier being the one at home with the kids. But still, I find that the anticipation of call day, the actual call day, and the realities of post call day can be quite emotionally exhausting for me.

And so I rely on God's strength throughout it all, realizing that this is the life He chose for me. And time and time again, God has proven Himself faithful at bolstering my energy during these single-parent days. We all have our challenges, and realizing that God has brought it and will give the grace to endure it is more than half of the battle.