Passing The Boards

Richard passed his radiology boards!!!  I could go on and on and on with exclamation marks and it couldn't adequately relay our excitement and relief.

These boards have been looming over our head for years, and weighing heavy on us for months, especially for Richard, obviously!  Richard has been studying for these since he started residency and beginning in January he really dug in.  That meant he left our house at 6:15 every weekday to study before 7:30 lecture, he studied every night after we put the kids to bed, and he studied every single Saturday January through the middle of June.  He gave up so much personal and family time to do this.  

The boards were in Chicago and lasted two days, June 11 and 12.  The first day of his exam the computer he was using crashed every time he clicked on an image.  This was how the first ten minutes of his exam went!  I would have been a flustered wreck.  Not him though.  They were able to move him to a different computer and he kept his focus and began his exam.  

When he came home on the afternoon of the 12th he experienced a wide range of emotion:  relief, terror, anxiety, happiness, exhaustion, worry, stress.  It took him several days to wind down from that, and same with all of his classmates.  

We weren't expecting the results until August, but a week ago Monday, on July 27th, he found out he passed!  He was working with Dr. Carrera that day, who got a call from Carla telling him that all the residents in Richard's class passed.  Dr. Carrera hung  up the phone, shook Richard's hand, and said "Congratulations!".  Richard had no idea what he was talking about and Dr. Carrera told him he passed the boards.  I am so glad he found out that way, talk about memorable.  

I am so proud of Richard.  I cannot emphasize that enough.  It has been incredible to watch him grow and learn and work hard and take on tasks that seem insurmountable to me.  He has done this all while being an exceptional husband and father.  We are so lucky to have him!