Left Behind

I had been up all night working with a new intern, his first night shift. We got slammed with ER admits, transfers from OSH and floor consults. I triaged the straight forward cases to the intern to allow me to stabilize the sickest.

He arrived in the ED in PEA arrest and the trauma team began resuscitation. I joined the team and took control of resuscitative measures. I informed the attending on call of my clinical assessment and transferred him to the unit. We worked on him some more and kept his heart beating although we all knew he was already brain dead.

Then you walked in and broke down into tears... You called his name and cried some more. You spoke to him about your 2 daughters and how they needed their father. You spoke of the camping trip and how the family vacation had turned into a nightmare. You spoke of how God had found a perfect mate for you and how much you loved him. All the medical explanation and treatment plan didn't seem to matter... and it shouldn't have. I was lost for words. The RNs, RTs and everyone else in team continued working... with teary eyes.

You wanted to be left alone with him, and we all complied. I had 2 admits waiting in the ED, and continued working. The call came around 0550. He's heart had stopped. No resuscitation as per your wishes. You had already witnessed it 3 times and couldn't handle a 4th.
I examined the body and pronounced him dead. We sat there is silence. "He was a brilliant man", you said. "An electrical engineer. It is now too late. He is gone."

...a step at a time

Today marks another milestone in my journey. Nothing special like graduation or moving to a new grade or passing a major test. Today I got inspired by a few things I've observed around me. As I type this, game 7 of the NBA championship between the Spurs and the Heat is yet to be played. I watched most of game 6 and it was very close. The spurs were very impressive and appeared seasoned (some people call it "old"). The heat on the other hand, is full on talent... however, mostly bought talent. I was very impressed to learn Tim, Manu and Tony have been together for almost 16 years with Popovich as the head coach. That is a championship team that was built-up. It took steps to recruit and patience to reach that level. Even though the popular thing is to root for a big name team like Miami, I feel that San Antonio deserves this one. Looking forward to tonight's game!
Related to the basketball finals, is a short clip from an interview with Russell Crowe about his latest movie "man of steel". Apparently Henry Cavill met Russell years ago while he was a teenager in high school. He candidly approached him for advice about acting and Russell's reply was interesting. It's a cliche phrase, but yet; so true... "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" ...today, Henry stars as superman alongside Russell in Man of Steel. Can't wait to see the movie this weekend!