I have moaned and complained about my work lately and especially in my last post. My work is demanding and stressful and can be a political minefield. Sometimes I need to be reminded of why I put up with it and actually even like it. Being away form the bad of work for so long was great, but being away from the good also took away that positive reinforcemnet.
Yesterday while working feverishly on project number 2, I got a call that a former patient was in the unit and wanted to see me- well OK her parents wanted to see me. I dropped what I was doing and went out to visit. Now, let me tell you a little about this baby. SHe was born with a diaphragmatic hernia and was about as sick from that disease as you can be. Without giving detail, at a little over a month of age she was dying and we had exhausted all standard therapy and even some not so standard therapy and her body was beginning to quit. I talked to everyone i could think about about what to do with her. I had to have "the talk" with her parents that they needed to consider how they wanted her to die, but I had one thing left up my sleaves a medication that I had studied when I was a fellow, but it was experimental. We tried it, it worked. Within 24 hours we weren't talking about her dying anymore, she was breathing on her own off of all medications in a month. It was a few more months before she went home because she wouldn't eat and was fragile, but did amazingly well. Yesterday at 17 months of age, she walked up to me and gave me a hug, while looking to her dad for support. She is beautiful. She has a life to look forward to and with some more work a bright future. I started to cry. Her parents started to cry. They hugged me too. Reaffirmation that I like my job and am good at it- DONE
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3 comments:
Wow. I know you needed that.
I have not had anything that good to get me motivated again, so I have returned to the perspective you gave me some 5 or 6 years ago when I had a bad day and vented, and you and calmly listened and then summed up your day.
I keep reminding myself.....No babies died today.
Have a GREAT time in Hawaii. Give my best to LF.
smb
You rock!! I had a little girl about 18 months ago born at 32 weeks with refractory SVT due to WPW. I sat at her bedside every day while we externally paced for over a week until we FINALLY got her into sinus rhythm with the weirdest concoction of anti-arrhythmics ever. She is beautiful and perfect now and has never gone into SVT again since going home!
Suz, I'll tell LF hi for you. Wish you could join us.
Kath, I know you don't need ot be reminded about why we do our job in the way I do, but your strength still continues to inspire me. Treasure the accomplishments.
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