If you have been following my writing, you know I have been out of the surgical workforce for a year and a half. I have settled into a much more relaxing lifestyle as an author who can set his own work schedule. This week I got a flashback of what my old life was like as a general surgeon when I attended a four-day conference called FinCon.
Each morning of the conference, I awoke to an alarm before my body was done sleeping. I quickly showered, ate some breakfast, and kissed my wife goodbye while she was still in bed. Then I got in my car and drove to the conference. In between sessions, other attendees wanted to talk with me in the hall so I was frequently late getting to the next session.
When the conference took a break for lunch, I ran into others who wanted some of my time, so we ended up standing in the hallway talking. When it was time for the next session to begin, I realized that I missed my chance to eat lunch. So between the afternoon lectures, I would scout out what was available to snack on. I found cookies and candy bars available to eat. Not the best choice, but it kept me going until my next meal. Unfortunately, the same thing happened at dinner time and I missed another meal. Each evening, after the conference had ended for the day, there were still people who wanted to indulge in conversation.
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