“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Steve Jobs
It’s been a minute since I’ve written on here! I’ve been busy to say the least on the GYN surgery and Labor and Delivery services the last two weeks. The hours have been long and I’ve been drained to say the least by the end of the day, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love getting the chance to talk to patients and hear their stories.
One patient and her young daughter came to triage this week from clinic. As I brought the ultrasound machine back to its station, the daughter’s eyes lit up and she asked me excitedly if she was going to get to see her baby sister today. Mom ended up staying overnight and when I came in the next day, the daughter and her dad were leaving the floor. She recognized me immediately and informed me with so much pride that her baby sister was almost here. My heart literally melted. Another patient came into triage and, on history, I found that she was experiencing contractions that were preventing her from enjoying her video games. We ended up bonding over a mutual love of classic games like Zelda, Crash Bandicoot and Spiro.
These moments are the best part of my day. We work so many long hours and, as students, we essentially pay tuition for the opportunity to learn how to care for patients. It can be easy to feel run down, tired and begin to become disillusioned with the wonderful privilege we have been given. Moments like these make all of the hard work studying, the early hours, the late nights so worth it. I treasure the opportunity to sneak a glimpse into each patient’s life. Every story is so precious and teaches a powerful lesson. When others express frustration toward patients, I have to stop and remind myself there are so many circumstances that are contributing to each patient’s situation. One mom may have several children at home and barely a moment to spare for herself. Others may be working two jobs to make ends meet. If taking a break for 10 minutes every two hours on shift is laughable to many supervisors in working America, how can we expect patients to be able to schedule time off for prenatal appointments? There are so many factors to consider that can be easily forgotten during a busy, hectic day.
The more I’ve had the opportunity to scrub into procedures, the more comfortable I’ve become being in the OR. It’s wild to think that I’ve been able to assist, albeit in small ways, during real life surgeries. Until now, that was something I couldn’t even fathom aside from what I saw in my favorite TV shows. On the same note, the more I’ve been in the OR, the more I am certain that surgery is not for me. I’ve been in several cesarian sections over the last week and, standing on my step stool all scrubbed in and holding instruments in place, I kept being overcome by the urge to drop what I was doing and run over to the pediatric team behind me and check on the baby. Of course I didn’t because hello sterile field, but I could feel my attention being pulled elsewhere. I kept worrying about one of the babies I saw delivered, probably annoying my team now that I think back on it (#sorrynotsorry), so they suggested I call the NICU to check and see how he was doing. Thankfully, they reported he was doing better. Others have always said to pay attention to those feelings, though I never realized how strong those might be. When we got our schedules for the next block and I realized that I get to be at CHKD from October until Christmas, I became giddy! The icing on the cake is that I get to work with several of my good friends and one of my mentors who I respect a great deal. I look forward to being immersed in a new field with so many new things to see and learn. Hello, kids are not tiny adults right? I can’t wait to see the growth I make as I explore and find my tribe.
The Music of Medicine 