Two Physician Marriage – B.C. Krygowski

An Inpatient Palliative Medicine Physician’s Experiences on the Front Lines During Covid-19

This 3 part blog series explores the experiences and thoughts for the physician FIRE community on why I left FIRE to return to work due to Covid. (FIRE=Financial Independence Retire Early/Recreational Employment)

In the first blog, I wrote about the difficult decision to come out of early retirement as a Hospice and Palliative Care physician to work on the front lines during a global pandemic. This 2nd blog post details what that return felt like and what I found when I went back into the hospital.

I’m a vaccinated, frontline Physician who got breakthrough Covid. Here’s what it was like.

I’m interrupting this anemically-scheduled blog series to provide a public service announcement: I’m a vaccinated, frontline physician who still ended up getting Covid. If you qualify, get your booster asap, because getting breakthrough Covid wasn’t an experience I’d want to repeat. Here’s what it felt like:

How COVID Made Me Not Go Gently into My FIRE Goodnight

Part One:

Difficult Decisions at the Start of a Global Pandemic:

I want to share with the physician FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early/Recreational Employment) community what my thinking was to leave FIRE and return to work.

In 2019, I resigned from the VA when we moved to Medellín, Colombia, for the summer. After we got somewhat settled in Gainesville in August of 2019, I half-heartedly applied for a part-time position at a local hospice.

But after exploring it, I sensed it was a chaotic work environment and knew my heart wouldn’t be in the job. For that reason, I ended up turning the position as a Hospice and Palliative Care physician down.

I intended to let my medical license lapse while I walked away from medicine completely. One thing made me renew my license, though. Now, this next bit sounds a little woo-woo, but in the interest of authenticity, I’m going to tell you.

What is Success when you consciously choose to consume less in America?

If any blog is to get me hate mail, this is the one—though hopefully it’s been edited enough by my Dragon Lady that the sharp edges no longer remain in this piece.

If something I write here hits a little too close to home—rather than stopping reading—why don’t you finish the blog and sit quietly for a bit to think about why you don’t like this particular blog? I’m hoping by doing this, it will help make you a happier person in the long run.

Continue reading “What is Success when you consciously choose to consume less in America?”

You are Not Alone: the Importance of Finding your Monetary Tribe (#FinCon2018 Recap)

Last week, I had a fantastic 8 days. So I wanted to share what I learned after A) going on a cruise to Cuba with Physician on Fire, etc and B) attending FinCon 2018 (a gathering for financial bloggers and podcasters—where I mostly hung out with the 20+ Physician bloggers there):

1) “We’re not alone!” This is the single most common refrain—with relief evident in their voices—people repeatedly said as they remarked how refreshing it was to meet others like them. Continue reading “You are Not Alone: the Importance of Finding your Monetary Tribe (#FinCon2018 Recap)”

What it feels like when both spouses work part-time

“Daddy, will you be here in the morning?”

“I will.”

“YES!!!!” a little boy screams—grinning widely—as he runs up the stairs for bedtime.

Conversations like this are happening a lot in our household lately since DH (dear husband) quit his partnership. And each time I hear something like this, I smile, and my steps are a bit lighter.

Continue reading “What it feels like when both spouses work part-time”