I made pizza tonight for dinner, but this time, unlike the photo, it was just cheese <3
The number forty seven came up three times for me today.
The first was the number of hits: 47, 047.
I looked it up. Doreen Virtue says:
- 47--The angels say that you are on the right path. Keep up the good work.
- 470--Your spiritual devotions and practices have put you on a very healthy pathway. You're exactly where you need to be right now.
Next, in the afternoon, I looked at the number of hits: 47,470.
Okay....
About a minute later, my surgeon announced he had a small stroke recently, had fully recovered, but this was going to be his last case in his career.
I was surprised because it was a total case switch--I was not assigned to it. Many times this happens in my day, and more often than not, it is the patient or the surgeon who 'needs me', my energy, my skills, my whatever.
I immediately put my hand on his arm (this was before he was scrubbed in, he was just injecting local). He relaxed.
He said 'my arm went numb' when I asked what was the symptom of the stroke. But they treated it, and put him back on his blood thinner, and he was completely recovered.
This patient wanted to be done, even if it was after a stroke and to be the last. They actually pushed the schedule up to still get the surgeon they love.
This doc was hanging up his white coat after forty seven years in practice!
It wasn't for the health.
He couldn't afford the malpractice insurance. Reimbursements are only twenty-five percent of what they were ten years ago. He can't run an office, with staff, and make enough. 'You have to do more cases to get the same amount you used to make before'.
I knew he was slowing down. I see the younger surgeons, and some older ones, where 'speed is the game'. Some are fast and safe. Others...it depends on what they are trying to do. Let me say, 'I see differences' and leave it at that.
He also did not believe in SCIP requirement for perioperative antibiotics. Now with regulated 'evidence-based practice' care being LINKED to reimbursements, this surgeon was LOSING money by not 'playing the medicare jump-through-hoops' game.
My friend, the lady urologist, saw she was not getting paid much for her follow-up visits. She ditched the gowns, the vitals, and keeps the visits focused and short to stay competitive in her practice. She is like, 'If I am not getting paid for it, it doesn't make sense to go all out and do everything extra and run behind in my schedule.' She has a point.
For every first case, there is a last. Enjoy your work. Forty seven years can pass before you realize it. And IF you live in the Eternal Moment Now every day of your life, you will always be as happy as your first and as thankful as your last.
Namaste,
Reiki Doc
