I"m so happy and excited for Jeff and Carolee. Tomorrow is Jeff's last official day of his fellowship program. For those who aren't real aware of what that is, when you become a doctor if you "specialize" in your area of expertise it's called a fellowship. Jeff decided to not only be an orthopedic doctor but to specialize in spine surgery.
I cannot imagine of what it's really been like for them all these years. When they first got married Jeff went and graduated from Chiropractic school (
Three Years). Soon after he was finished he felt he needed to go on a become an Orthopedic Doctor. He was lucky to be accepted into Western School in Pomona. That was a
four year program of grueling hours and hard tests! I can account many Saturdays he stayed up in his bedroom and studied. I remember telling him that my head would have exploded! He was so dedicated to his school work!
After four years at Western, and two weeks before his joyful graduation he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. We were all in shock and so very sad and scared. But Jeff was a real man and pushed through getting his surgery done and radiation treatments during his month off before he started his rotations at the hospital. About 5 months later he ended up needing more surgery to remove lymph nodes in his neck. The day after he was released from the hospital he was flying a "red eye" special to go interview in Chicago. He pushed through and kept his appointment. and the following Monday morning again at his rotation.
After his first year of residency here in California he then was accepted to his Ortho program in Erie , Pennsylavania, where it was a difficult program because MOST of the time Carolee and him were separated. He lived at the hospitals becasue he was on call and it was too far to drive back home. Carolee was left for months at a time by herself with the three children. Winters were tough in Erie, digging out the car with the huge snow drifts. They lived in Erie for four years.
His 6th year they have been living in Plano Texas where his spinal training has been.
So add up the years
3 years college
3 years chiropractic
4 years medical school
5 year residency
1 year fellowship
16 years of hard hard work!
Carolee and Jeff are my heroes!
They have a great new house, a great new job and I wish them the very very best. I know Jeff will be a wonderful caring doctor and his patients and fellow doctors and nurses will appreciate his skills , his intergity and knowledge.
I wish they could live next door to me, but I"m excited for thier new home in Ogden, Utah.
And while they have done all that, they have had three of the cutest , most well behaved kids in the world ( well sometimes Brady is a pill, but he's so cute )
I sure love you guys.
mom
