Yesterday I had the day off. I called in the night before to double-check. I had been waiting for this for a long time. I had worked last Saturday. And my Monday off they made me work.
At 4:19 a.m. when my alarm went off, I turned it off. And I woke up when I felt like it. I blogged, took care of the pets, and went to get the morning paper from outside. As I got by the stove to start the water boiling for my coffee, I noticed on my cell phone there was a lot of activity.
Many phone calls from Unknown. That's my work. Most hospitals block caller I.D. It was odd because there were so many and yet I never heard anything in the house.
I called in. I got transferred. Come in. Okay. Why? Dr. L has his kid in the E.R. Okay, I am on my way.
(I learned that. Not to argue. Just to come in as best you can and blame the rest on traffic.) I woke up my son, got us both dressed, got us both breathing treatments, bought us Mc Donald's breakfast. He wanted the Deluxe and I ate his english muffins. And got a big cup of coffee for me. Rush rush rush to school, work. And I am TWO HOURS EARLY! My first case was at ten and I was there by eight!!!
Did I get angry? No.
I figured this was too odd a coincidence, and decided to look for the lesson in the day. The first lesson I discovered was to be LOVE. Love and smiles in the O.R., and concern for my colleagues kid's health. He called shortly before the first case, and offered to come in. I declined. Partly because I had set up and spoken to the patient. Partly because when you drive in like that it is good to get some work out of it. And partly so he and his wife could decompress. It was mesenteric adenitis, like my son had a few weeks ago. All the tests are scary.
But here is the Divine in all of this.
At the bedside, I rested my arms and head on the bedrail as I sat down (I never sit) to be close and talk to the patient about her anesthesia. It didn't come out easily, and I had to work it, but the last anesthetic she threw up for five hours after surgery. PACU had sent her home with post-op nausea and vomiting. She was not happy. Fortunately, I have a good track record with this. And I was able to reassure her.
I checked to see on the computer who did her last anesthetic a month ago. It was the father of the son who went to the E.R. today.
: )))
P.S. The phone number for my home on the roster had the area code for the hospital with my home number, not my actual area code. ; )
Namaste,
Reiki Doc
