As I was setting up for my first case, I got word that the patient fainted during insertion of the i.v. EKG's were taken, and I needed to look at them.
I had seen that one before, clinically. Someone had brady'd down to heart rate of thirty before their plastic surgery, and passed out. I was horrified, but my surgeon had seen it before. I had to wake her up before I could put her to sleep!
I had on my 'Reiki game face' as I opened the drape on the bay in pre-op holding that had my first patient and their loved one. I had to be 'on', 'positive', and 'empathetic', dispelling all fear and instantly establishing trust. It was 'make it or break it'.
"What's with this i.v. thing?" I smiled and asked the patient. He looked horrified, as if I was going to cancel the surgery. I laughed and said, "Guess what? I do that when they draw my blood too! My entire family laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a doctor, because I faint when they draw blood. You are okay. We are wired differently and we go vasovagal and we faint. Everything is going to be okay."
What next caught my eye, after shaking hands with both the patient and his girlfriend, was the beautiful crystal on her necklace. A greyish brown, with swirls, it was a point about one inch wide and three inches long. I asked if I could touch it? I admired it, and told her it 'felt good'. She said it was Labradorite, for protection.
I laughed and shared what I had around MY neck. "I wear amethyst, see? And this is my Om (it has diamonds on it)--it is all sparkly, like me!'
"Is that a Canadian Maple Leaf you have on your lanyard?" the patient asked, incredulously, reaching up to take a look at it.
"Why, yes it is! I am half French Canadian!"
"I am from Toronto!"
Score: Reiki Doc 1, Patient happy!
Anesthesia, technically, was uneventful. It was a short case, and everything went well.
Reiki-wise, this was one of the most unusual cases in my career. I gave Reiki, lots of Reiki, way more than usual. It was like water in a desert. It just kept going in. The solar plexus, or yellow chakra, sucked it in. So I gave it. I felt the spirit of this individual wanting to heal, very much so, and I allowed the energy to 'connect' to him in the process. I gave Diksha, balanced chakras, and gave Reiki complete with symbols while pretending to fix the Bair hugger warming blanket and do anesthesia-related activities. (I can do anesthesia and teach, I can do anesthesia and tell jokes with the surgeon; anesthesia is a lot like driving a car, yes?) I actually was guided to attune him to Reiki 1, as I do sometimes, smiling inwardly with my guides at the thought he is going to wake up psychic!
I went afterwards to talk to the girlfriend. I assured her everything had gone right, and that her boyfriend was safe in recovery room 'sleeping it off'. I wanted to talk to her about the energy work I had done, but it was in the lobby, with others nearby, and I wasn't sure if my insights would be welcome.
"You are so cute! There is something about your energy..." she said.
I took that as a go. I shared with her my findings on the Intraoperative Reiki. They were spot-on. (She had just graduated from a local Energy Healing program, and had her Tarot Bible with her things!)
Her surprised relief from being able to share her perceptions about her boyfriend gave me joy as a healer--when everything 'works right' it is a beautiful thing to watch. I was doing way more than giving anesthesia at this point. I was being a doctor, a specialist in Energy Medicine, at this time.
She asked me for my contact information, exchanged hers, and asked me to find out what his past life trauma was, and fix it.
I had no read on it at the moment. But in the middle of my NEXT case, I 'got it'. I texted her immediately--confidential to her--what the trauma was, that it was actually from THIS life, and how best to manage it from an energy healing perspective.
Here is her text back (she gave me full permission to share 'our story'):
Thank you sooo much doctor. That explains a lot! Its probably why he and I are close same thing happened to me in a past life. I went on your blog, I am so grateful I met you. When you have your reiki class please let me know the dates. I asked God to send me a spiritual teacher yesterday and I met you today. With love and light, C
Impression: Intraoperative Reiki is a powerful tool. It helps to establish rapport. It helps to address the underlying conditions, both on an energetic level and a deeper soul level, that result in the manifestation of physical disease. It is non-toxic, safe, and does not need to be documented or charted or even discussed with the patient at the time it is given. People come to us for healing, in the hospital. It would be remiss to leave something clearly in need of treatment, untreated, when we have the ability to treat it at the same time that other work is being done. Anesthesiologists and CRNA's are the perfect providers for this purpose because we are at the head of the bed in surgery, and our anesthesia weakens the aura in the first place. Why not take the opportunity to shore it up and strengthen the aura at the time patients are most vulnerable?
This treatment itself took about seven minutes. Talking in pre-op and the lobby took about ten minutes total. For seventeen minutes, that is about one unit of anesthesia billable time, which is not much 'work' but yields much benefit for humankind! Intraoperative reiki, like all reiki, strengthens and heals the energetic system of the healer while it is given to the client. It is a total win-win for all parties involved.
Namaste,
Reiki Doc