I look at the day that passed, and asked, 'How did I function?'
Today was literally like the movie 'Field of Dreams'--"if you build it, they will come."
I am humbled by the severity of disease that passed through my O.R. And therefore through my care.
The firecracker to start the day was the asthmatic morbidly obese patient that was bed-bound. Could not move. Needed vascular access. Any operative procedure in this size patient is dangerous. General or MAC (monitored anesthesia care)? Less is more safe. But when there was complaint about the pain from the blood pressure cuff, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I said a big 'cho ku rei' upon her arriving in the operating room. And once the vessel got accessed through the layers of fat and skin, the scrub tech and I breathed loud sighs of relief. He was literally holding tissue out of the way so the surgeon could work.
She got the full treatment of Reiki Plus. Everything but the kitchen sink.
The next had a severe, progressively worsening disorder and needed access too. We do not like to operate when platelet count is less than 100,000. And epidural's lowest limit is 70,000. Surgery is very risky but possible above 50,000 if you replace platelets and are very careful. Spontaneous bleeding from all mucous membranes is at 20,000. Patient had 40,000. We went for it. Wanted to go to sleep. So I did. That and Reiki too.
The day was going well, I had snacks and bathroom breaks. Which was a good thing because at eleven we started the sickest one: bad bowel obstruction. The NG tube wasn't actually decompressing that much. When I futzed with it, trying to clear it so it could suck, the surgeon was pressing on the viscera.
Bowel contents, when blocked, back up. Just like a sewer. I saw poop come out the mouth and go all over the patient. I was so busy supporting blood pressure and getting the NG tube to work and cleaning the patient I barely had time to chart, never mind do Reiki. I rinsed saline into the mouth and sucked it out repeatedly until clear so that the patient would not know what had happened when he woke up. Once the colostomy was working and I had caught up on fluids, I did. He got a Reiki treatment, as needed, but not the full thing.
I was sure to include 'happy trails' on all three of them.
The last one was worse. Not going to pass in the near future, but very very messed up. Like a seventy year old's history in only half the age. He got the works too.
Spirit has my gig. Those patients are coming my way! I was fine actually all day, until I came home and shared with others what I did. Until that time, I had not made the connection on how severe the work and patients had been. ASA 4, ASA 3, ASA 4, and ASA 3. The Reiki comes through, it does not exhaust you.
I had time to make dinner and play Battleship with my kid.
Guess what? The friend in Hawaii asked me to send Reiki to her daughter on mainland. And her daughter is now my friend too.
Warmest blessings and Namaste,
Reiki Doc