IT TAKES TWO
Married in Medicine
by LESLEY KELLIE , DO & BRANDON KELLIE , MD
It was 2003 when I decided that I wanted to become a doctor . I was in nursing school at the time , and I needed to beef up my medical school application with some volunteer work . It was orientation day at UofL Hospital when I asked the guy sitting next to me for a pen .
That guy was Brandon .
We talked that day about our goals of becoming doctors . We were excited , motivated and committed to this dream . When we met , we were already married to something else called “ medicine .”
Being married to medicine meant that we would be studying a whole lot . Getting into medical school meant hitting all the checkboxes . We had an automatic agreement that we were going to support each other in reaching each other ’ s dreams .
So our dates went like this ... we would meet every night from 5-9 p . m . studying at the UofL library . We joked about going to Target on Saturday date nights . As I graduated from nursing school and as Brandon started medical school , schedules became more difficult . I started working every Friday-Sunday as a nurse while taking premed classes Monday-Thursday , and Brandon was in his first two years of medical school . It was not as hard and dreadful as it sounds . We were consistent with our nightly dates , sitting across the table … studying . When I went out-of-state for medical school , our dates moved to Skype . We had Skype study sessions , and when we had a weekend break , we would travel to see each other .
After eight years of dating , we got married . I planned our wedding while studying for Step 1 , and he was in his first year in residency . I requested my clinical rotations in his city , and we prayed my match would work out . That was the end of all Skype dates . “ Thank goodness !”
Now that was the easy part …
During my second year of internal medicine residency and while Brandon was a first-year pulmonary fellow , we decided it was the best time to have a kid . I remember running to codes carrying eight pagers with Brad , our firstborn , jumping around in my abdomen . It was a great feeling despite the months of nausea and fatigue . When he was born , we didn ’ t have much help . Luckily our daycare was open from 6 a . m . to 7 p . m ., and yes , our kid was often the first one there and the last to leave . We tackled our baby night shifts by having one of us sleep the first half of the night and the other take the next half . We submitted our rotation / schedule request a year ahead of time so that one of us would be on an elective rotation every other week in case Brad got sick . Yes , that kid was sick a lot .
12 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE