hello & happy new year!

I survived 2024!!!!! huge!

it feels like a lot has happened since the last newsletter & especially since we launched the podcast in April 2024. my updates have been sporadic at best. Here is an update from an unsent newsletter + some 2024 in review thoughts 🙂

on June 1, while sitting in the woods in Denali, Alaska, I got an email to submit document for an NYC housing lottery I applied to. holy shit! potentially game changing. our lease in sixwest/skypeia (bunny cafe) was supposed to end July 31st, but we communicated to our landlord we wanted to extend it 6-9 months. he is…. not being a landlord in accordance with tenant rights in NYC. either way, on July 5 he told us we had until the end of the month to leave because he had a family friend he wanted to rent the unit to, who could do maintenance on the building. oh fucking kay john. 

thus, my first month in the hospital, zidane and I were looking for shorter term rental situations while we waited to see if we would actually “win the lottery”. if you have ever looked for housing in New York, you know that shit is incredibly fucking stressful. We finally found a unit that was overpriced but we could qualify for + was close enough to our first place / school. and then we had to fucking move in NYC. in the summer, while on my period, having an allergic reaction to the new place.

this place was,, less than ideal. I asked zidane to describe it:

so we were praying we would get the lottery place. we could see the building from impel down 😭 the lottery process began to progress, with many many weeks of rigorous document review. but we made it! eventually, finally, we signed for the lottery place.

meanwhile at impel down, the roach infestation was becoming an increasing problem. the roaches were growing. ugh. like just so fucking disgusting. 

as of October 1st we live in the lottery apartment, the upper yard. housing stability is amazing!!!!! and I'm finally feeling like writing again.

were really tough. please join my patreon to see a list of all I experienced and learned during my time on the wards. the last 4 weeks of my 24 week sentence were particularly grueling. But! I passed STEP1!!!! & all other hurdles put in front of me! So! I will be a doctor one day!!!

the major themes & lessons of the first phase of the mdphd life will be discussed in [some models are useful] season 1!!!!

as y'all can see, I've been writing & creating & sharing a lot! in 2024 this was via this newsletter (should I move to substack?? #replysnap) & the podcast & to a lesser extent, the patreon.

here are some other things:

–I wrote an article where I applied the healthy unhealthy abusive behaviors in relationships model I learned in PLEASURE@MIT (remember Vienna from episode 0.1!!) to substance use in college!!! I wrote it with a psychiatrist I really admire (and head of the addiction medicine program), Dr. Jonathan Avery. it was really fun :)

you can read here: https://www.rtor.org/2024/10/07/substance-use-in-college-helping-young-adults-stay-safe-by-understanding-patterns-of-use/

–y’all remember Cait from episode 0.2?! she has an incredible newsletter (on substack) called Adventures in Vaginas and Other Parts; as a part of it she interviewed me about my experience as a med student with chronic pelvic pain :0 you can listen here: https://open.substack.com/pub/pelvichealth/p/inside-medical-school-with-a-pelvic?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=rri91

–also, one of my poems is posted on the patreon and I'll be adding some audio of other pieces later this week :) specifically med school related poems perhaps? 

-lastly, as mentioned on my instant post, i consumed at least 51 soups last year. looking forward to more in 2025.

episode 0.7: KT teaches us how to be a mudphud!!!

in my next letter perhaps I'll reveal what kind of doctor I want to be!?!!??

in the mean time, please listen to episod 0.6 with Rachel! times are tough in America and listening to Rachel and the work she does always empowers me with love and hope.

meg <3

been doing a lot of birding at my local park (I love NYC so so much). the other day I was blessed by a snow goose! they're a part of a flock of Canadian geese :’) we all make our framily as fits us :)))