Megan Sharma's Blog: The Savvy Surgeon's Wife

“Memoirs of a Surgeon’s Wife” is HERE, and on SALE for a limited time!

8/28/2018

Photo by Kate Holzman Photography

I’m proud to share that my nonfiction book, “Memoirs of a Surgeon’s Wife: I’m Throwing Your Damn Pager into the Ocean” is now available in digital and paperback formats, and ON SALE!

Photo by Megan Sharma

Now is the perfect time to grab your copy, or one for a friend, since both the e-book and paperback are on sale on Amazon.

E-book Promotion: Was $9.99 USD, NOW: $3.99 USD ($6.00 savings!) All international Amazon markets also on sale.

Paperback Promotion: Was $14.95 USD, NOW $9.95 USD ($5.00 savings!). That’s the lowest Amazon will allow me to price the paperback and still cover printing costs. All international Amazon markets also on sale.

These deals are available ONLY on Amazon, until 8:00 pm Central Time on Thursday, September 6th (that’s my birthday, BTW).

Get your copy before the sale ends!

Here’s what the book is all about:

Megan Sharma is a surgeon's wife. During her husband's seven years of post-medical school training, while he tackled the dirty work of putting broken faces back together and painstakingly peeling cancer from his patients' jugular veins, she became his sugar mama and helped pave his path to glory.

Using humor, reflection, keen observation, and journalistic research, "Memoirs of a Surgeon’s Wife: I’m Throwing Your Damn Pager into the Ocean" peels back the surgical mask to reveal the human being underneath. From the 10 commandments for pleasing superiors to the conundrum of the 80-hour workweek to wearing mismatched shoes to work, Sharma delves into the world of modern medicine as experienced by physician trainees and their loved ones.
When medicine meets holy matrimony, anything can happen…

For links to ALL editions of "Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife," click here.

Photo by Megan Sharma

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Join Megan Sharma's VIP Book Launch Team for "Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife"

5/3/2018

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Hello, friends! Thank you for visiting my VIP Book Launch Team Application page for "Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife: I'm Throwing Your Damn Pager into the Ocean", coming July 17, 2018.

This book has been nearly 5 years in the making, so I am beyond thrilled that it will be published this summer, and I want YOU to be part of the magic!

The VIP Book Launch Team will receive a FREE EARLY EDITION DIGITAL COPY OF THE BOOK and, in exchange, will help me make the book a smash hit by:

Reading the book ahead of the launch date (July 17, 2018)
Spreading the word on social media during launch week
Downloading the book on the launch date
Leaving an Amazon review on the launch date
Sharing any special talents or connections

If you're on board, please complete the form below and we will let you know if you've been selected for the VIP Book Launch Team ASAP.

The application deadline is Monday, May 28, 2018. Don't miss your chance to read "Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife" before everyone else does!

Applications received after May 28, 2018 will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Our readers need enough time to read the book before launch!

Feel free to reach out to megan@megansharma.com with any questions, or if you have any trouble with the form below (I'm happy to add people manually as needed). Cheers and a million thanks for your support!

PS - Feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested. Share the love!

Best,

Submit

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Book Release Date for "Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife" by Megan Sharma: July 17, 2018

3/19/2018

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My 'book birthday' is coming this summer, and I can't wait to make a splash!

Mark your calendar for July 18, 2018, the book release date for Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife: I'm Throwing Your Damn Pager into the Ocean.

The digital edition will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords.

The paperback edition will be available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Watch this blog for updates and to get in on the fun as we approach the release date.

Here's what Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife is all about:

Megan Sharma is a surgeon's wife. During her husband's seven years of post-medical school training, while he tackled the dirty work of putting broken faces back together and painstakingly peeling cancer from his patients' jugular veins, she became his sugar mama and helped pave his path to glory.

Using humor, reflection, keen observation and journalistic research, “Memoirs of a Surgeon's Wife: I'm Throwing Your Damn Pager into the Ocean” peels back the surgical mask to reveal the human being underneath.

From the 10 commandments for pleasing superiors to the conundrum of the 80-hour workweek to wearing two different shoes to work, Sharma delves into the world of modern medicine as experienced by physician trainees and loved ones.

When medicine meets holy matrimony, anything can happen…

Count down with me to July 17, 2018!

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BIG NEWS! I’m self-publishing my memoir in 2018. Here’s why…

1/8/2018

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Hello, friends! Happy New Year to all of you!

I, for one, am especially pumped about 2018.

Why?

Because this is the year I will self-publish my debut nonfiction book: “Memoirs of a Surgeon’s Wife: I’m Throwing Your Damn Pager into the Ocean”.

And let me tell ya, this thing, this passion project of mine, has been a long time coming.

I started writing “Memoirs of a Surgeon’s Wife” in 2013 while I was working full-time as a Corporate Communications Manager. It was something I did on weeknights and weekends whenever I could muster the energy and inspiration.

Then, life decided to throw me a few more curve balls – namely, pregnancy and motherhood.

I didn’t work on the book for a whole YEAR.

It wasn’t until my daughter was 15 months old and started part-time day care that I was finally able to turn my attention to my book once again.

In less than six months, I finished the first draft. I was elated. I had written a BOOK!

To keep things moving, I strategically planned to attend the 2017 San Francisco Writers Conference, which forced me to quickly write my nonfiction book proposal, create and hone my elevator pitch, and research potential literary agents to represent my book.

At the conference last February, I pitched my book to several literary agents in person, and received three requests for my manuscript and book proposal, a huge win.

I also started tackling a necessity for today’s authors: building an ‘author platform’, or online presence for readers. Most of 2017 was spent in pursuit of this challenging endeavor.

I am thrilled to report that I now have nearly 10,000 followers across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and my email subscribers (and growing).

Photo by Sean MacEntee on Visualhunt / CC BY

The one thing I was not able to accomplish in 2017 was to contract with a literary agent to represent my work, with the goal of securing a traditional publishing contract. I did have conversations with a few individuals and some positive feedback, but nothing more materialized. I could sit around and moan and whine about it all day, but I won’t.

Instead, I’m taking matters into my own hands: I’m self-publishing my memoir in 2018.

Have I done this before? Kinda.

I mean, I did publish this e-book, 100 of Your Toughest Business Emails: Solved, so I have some experience.

But taking charge of the complete book production, launch and marketing strategy for a full-length memoir? Nope, haven’t done it yet.

Here’s the thing: I’m not worried. I’m beyond-words excited.

What I don’t know how to do now I will figure out. I will ask for help when I need it. And I will remember that if something doesn’t seem just a tad bit scary, it’s probably not worth doing.

Why, exactly, have I decided to self-publish?

Because the very thought of it fills me with joy, honestly. And I want other medical couples out there to know that they can and will get through the training years and the difficult times.

So, that’s the big news for 2018.

Want to get involved?

I will be recruiting an exclusive launch team to help me spread the word about “Memoirs of a Surgeon’s Wife”. These folks will get to read the book before everyone else, will score a free copy, and will be privy to and part of the action behind the scenes of a real live book launch.

More on this soon – watch this blog for details.

What challenges are YOU taking on this year? Cheers to possibility!

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Married to medicine: Letter to a young doctor’s girlfriend

6/1/2017

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I was recently inspired by Dr. Suzanne Koven’s Letter to a Young Female Physician, published in “The New England Journal of Medicine”.

In her letter to herself as a young doctor, Dr. Koven describes the challenges she will face and the battle waging within her own mind: “I have wasted much time and energy in my career looking for reassurance that I was not a fraud”.

She ends on a positive note: “My dear young colleague, you are not a fraud. You are a flawed and unique human being, with excellent training and an admirable sense of purpose.”

Like any good Millennial, I immediately related her story to myself.

(Not me. Just a stock image of a Millennial girl in a fancy hat)

I thought about what I would have told my future self about what it’s like dating, being engaged to, and being married to a doctor.

If I had powers to predict the future, would I have made different decisions? Would I have changed the course of my life?

The answer is, most emphatically, NO. I would not.

Because when you find the love of your life, you don’t let him go.

Arun and me at Discovery Park in Seattle, one of our favorite places

Arun and me at Discovery Park circa May 2009, 5 months into our relationship

Here is my personal Letter to a Young Doctor’s Girlfriend:

Dear Young Doctor’s Girlfriend:

So, you’ve met someone? And that someone is a doctor? Kudos. Mazel. Cheers!

As your future self, I say this with the utmost respect and admiration: you have nary an idea what you’re getting yourself into.

I mean, you’re only 25, first of all (which is basically the new 19).

But you’re falling quickly. This one is different. You can feel it in your bones.

You’ll fall in love and spend your time conjoined like Siamese twins. Two peas in a pod. Eventually you will get engaged and married and have babies and buy a house together. All in good time, my dear.

For now, you’re content to snuggle on the couch watching Netflix and ordering calorie-laden Thai takeout from Golden Singha down the street.

The early days and even years won’t be without struggle, however.

Need I remind you that you are dating an ENT surgical resident, who has just started the first of his six-year residency training? It’s a long road. And even longer when you add that one-year fellowship to the end of it.

During your boyfriend’s first year of residency, he will have no control over his vacation schedule. His superiors will determine when he takes time off.

You’ll still manage to squeeze in an awesome trip to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate the end of intern year, your first of many international trips together.

Most nights, you’ll be lucky to see your man before 8:00 pm. When he does finally trudge through the door, he’ll be buried in work and will (10 to 1) fall asleep on the couch in his scrubs. Happy hour is out of the question.

You’ll grow accustomed to attending social events solo. Most of the time, your boyfriend will be on call or at the hospital whenever you make plans with your friends or family. Same goes for holidays—flip a coin.

He will wake you up every morning at 4:00 when he rises to prepare for the day. I know you’re not a morning person, never mind a middle of the night person. Get used to it!

His pager will become your most despised enemy. That thing literally never shuts up. It interrupts meals, sleep, shopping trips, conversations, romantic time, and even fights. Of course, it will cause fights, as well.

Financially, let’s just say that you will carry the burden for a few years. Seattle is an expensive city, and resident salaries don’t exactly match up to the cost of living.

You are one of the lucky couples who won’t have to grapple for years with medical school debt (THANK YOU GOD FOR THAT FULL SCHOLARSHIP!), so be grateful.

Believe it or not, once you get engaged (on your two-year anniversary while snowshoeing in Methow Valley, WA), you will plan your entire wedding around your fiancé’s rotation schedule. You will do most of the planning during his research year.

PS: an 18-month engagement is way too long. A year would have been just fine.

Once you finally get through six years of residency training, you’ll be jubilant, but you’re nowhere near off the hook.

You’ve lived on the West Coast for your entire life. All your beloved friends and family are in Seattle. Say goodbye to all that.

You’ve got a move on the horizon. A big one.

You’ll be trekking cross-country to Pittsburgh. In five short days. On your own dime. And then your husband will start his fellowship training while your newly rented apartment remains stacked to the ceiling with boxes, and you’ve got to get back to work, as well.

Wait! I almost forgot. Before that, you’ll sell your condo in Seattle two months before the end of residency. You’ll both move in with your parents while you wait it out.

And…oh, yes. You’ll also be PREGNANT.

You were going to drive cross-country to Pittsburgh, but your 24/7 nausea forced you to fly and make arrangements to ship your car.

One year later, after you have your first baby together, you husband will come to the end of his surgical training—a mere 16 years of education post high school.

You’ll pack those boxes once again. This time, to the Midwest, for your husband’s dream job. You’ll buy a beautiful home together, where your family can continue to grow.

True, life does get easier with your husband being an attending physician. But it also means he has ultimate responsibility for his patients, both ethically and legally.

You will buy expensive disability insurance, malpractice insurance, and life insurance to provide a snippet of comfort for the great, unknowable future.

Your husband will still round every weekend. He’ll still work late into every evening. He’ll attend more conferences, give more talks.

The life of a doctor’s wife is one of understanding and sacrifice.

You and your husband are truly a team, even though things are not always equal. Don’t keep score.

Whether you like it or not, you are both married to medicine. You’ll never escape that.

Just remember that you chose one another. Invest in your love and keep it strong.

It’s because of love that you’ve made it this far.

Warmest regards,

Megan
Your Future Self

Check out my debut book on love and modern medicine

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How to be the perfect wife: an amateur tells all

4/20/2017

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Arun and me on our wedding day. Photo by Luna Bella Events, Seattle. Design by Megan Sharma.

My husband and I are coming up on our five-year wedding anniversary this May (hooray for love!). Traditionally that means we would exchange gifts of wood, or silverware. Don’t ask me where those traditions came from. I have not the slightest clue.

Our impending anniversary got me thinking about what it means to be married, and specifically, what it means to be a wife.

Ladies, did you receive advice from mothers, aunts, grandmothers and married friends during your bridal shower, with recommendations such as “never go to bed angry” and “look on the bright side”? I surely did.

My real life prince charming. Photo by Luna Bella Events, Seattle

The moment we were pronounced husband and wife. Photo by Luna Bella Events, Seattle

We changed into traditional Indian attire for our reception. Photo by Luna Bella Events, Seattle

My grandparents have been happily married for nearly 66 years now. Isn’t that the most incredible thing you’ve ever heard? They were high school sweethearts and they’ve been married for exactly twice the length of time that I have been on this earth and they still have witty banter and hold hands at church and represent everything that is good about love and marriage.

My grandparents on their wedding day in 1951. Married happily for nearly 66 years and still going strong!

My grandparents, lifelong love birds

So, as you can see, my grandmother should really be the one to write this blog on how to be a perfect wife. If she did, you would get some solid counsel from one of the coolest ladies in the universe who also happens to save leftover cold, buttered toast from Sunday brunch in her purse (waste not, want not!).

Too bad for you, I’m the one writing, so I get to inject my own sarcastic sense of humor.

Thus, how to be the perfect wife:

Work hard to maintain your womanly figure, to please your man. But don’t focus too much on outer appearances and do it to be healthy, not to maintain a pervasive cultural standard of beauty.

Always have a hot dinner on the table and a cocktail waiting for your husband when he returns from work. But sometimes rush out the door to your girls’ night happy hour while informing your husband that there are Lean Cuisines in the freezer, or he can cook for himself.

Submit to your husband. That is, submit your ‘honey-do’ list on a regular basis.

In an argument, your beloved should always have the last word. Unless that last word happens to contradict your point.

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Passive aggressive behavior is usually more effective, anyway.

Never begin a sentence with the word ‘you’. ‘I feel like duct taping your mouth shut’ is more sensitive to your partner’s feelings.

Remember that a woman’s place is in the home. Or in the office. Or in the White House. Or in the spa. Or wherever she damn well pleases.

You must always stroke that delicate ego of his. And then shut it down at precisely the right moment.

Don’t forget to apply makeup, style your hair, and dress in a manner that your husband finds attractive. Except on yoga pants-messy bun-no makeup days.

The perfect wife keeps her home spic and span at all times. Or at least occasionally clears a walkway through the chaos.

Are you still with me?

In all seriousness, there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to husbands, wives and marriages. All we can do is our best and hope for the best.

I still remember the advice my dad gave in his father of the bride speech on our wedding day. He and my mom have been married for almost 37 years now, so they are another excellent example of a marriage gone right.

Remember that your partner has your best interests at heart. Remember that you’re on the same team.