The Spider In The Delivery Room

I had just finished taping the epidural in place when all of us noticed a spider on the wall.

My intution kicked in, and as the nurse had said, 'Look! There is a spider!' I felt that she was taking steps to go kill it.

I grabbed the emesis basin and said, 'No, that's okay, I'll take care of it!' I cut in front of here, scooped the spider into the basin, and ignored her protest, 'She NEVER kills ANYTHING!'

I felt the confusion of the spider, and gently kept tapping the basin to keep him from crawling out.

'I'll put it outside', I said, and watched their jaws drop as I walked out of the room: nurse, patient, mother, and sister.

With my cap and gloves on (clean ones to dump my sharps), I walked and enjoyed the spider while keeping it in the basin.

House spiders don't do well outside, so I kept scanning for a place that it was less likely to get smashed by an angry nurse.

Voila! In the large fake potted plant by the maternity entrance. No one is going to notice it there!

I came back to the room and calmly finished putting away the sharps into the red container.

The nurse looked at me and said, 'You're crazy no to kill things--plain crazy'.

Indeed I am.

The spider is a sign of the Goddess Energy. How comfortable you are with spiders and Goddess Energy says more to me about you. Spider is the wise crone. As in Maid, Mother and Crone. So be it!

Blessed Be <3

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Something To Add: Silent Surgery

this is how I felt when I was asked to do 'silent anesthesia'

P.S. the hair is supposed to go INSIDE the bouffant cap, thank you very much!

Recently I had the opportunity to stretch my open mind and do anesthesia for a member of Scientology.

The forms were intimidating. a three-page letter from an expert on Silent Surgery, and a one-page letter from the patient basically telling me what to do. I did my best to stay quiet and to avoid the specific agents requested. The patient did fantastic! But  just in case you are curious, no, they were not a celebrity in any way. (Even if they were I couldn't tell you ; )  )

So for the Anesthesia Community in General, For the Silent Surgery Education and Advertisement Department of Scientology, and for the Energy Healers out there, let us proceed to 'Something To Add'.

Here is the 'deal': 

engram: a mental image picture which is a recording of time of physical pain and unconsciousness.

Scientologists don't want them.

They want to stay 'conscious' and 'free of pain'.

Reiki Doc Says: 

The concept that everything is 'heard' and 'not remembered' during surgery is correct. The patient 'knows' everything that is going on, but later has no access to those memories. That's why I don't let people talk trash about my patient, as if anyone would in the first place. But I watch for this.

For staying 'conscious' options, I think regional anesthesia is an excellent choice. Lower extremity and some less invasive abdominal procedures are able to be done under spinal, epidural, or regional blocks such as a femoral three-in-one, sciatic, popliteal, or ankle block. Some upper extremity procedures may be done under axillary block, inter scalene, or Bier block. 

The only drawback with regional anesthesia that is not epidural or spinal is that local anesthesia causes seizure when absorbed too rapidly or injected intravascularly. Small doses of benzodiazepine are routinely given to raise the seizure threshold as added safety against seizure in case of inadvertent rapid absorption of local anesthetic.

Scientology also recommends 'bilateral TAP blocks' for abdominal pain post-op. I have never seen one of these done and would have to look one up before I did one. I wouldn't advise that for post-op pain control. Pain pumps (little spring-loaded slow drip drains filled with local anesthesia) are preferred in this and many thoracic cases. 

General Anesthesia

Scientology Says:

NO! Well actually, no:

• Barbiturate
• Etomidate
• Ketamine
• Benzodiazepines (midazolam, alprazolam, chlordiazepoxide, temazepam)

Again, this is to avoid the engrams.

Otherwise unconsciousness with general anesthetics, propofol, and narcotics is 'okay.

Reiki Doc says:

OK! I'm on it!

Barbiturate--we can't even get Sodium Pentothal for lethal injections by the state. It is no longer made, I believe. This is a non-issue. Years ago, we gave methylhexital for ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) because it gives a better seizure than propofol. Now it's usually propofol.

Etomidate--one dose isn't going to suppress the adrenals much. Those studies were done when etomidate was used for ICU sedation. (plus many elderly are adrenocortically suppressed and have no knowledge they are. I give steroid bolus to all over seventy just in case, it's cheap and preventive.) 

Etomidate is used when the patient is very unstable and might die if given propofol to go to sleep. Typically we use Etomidate for emergencies only. Chances are in an elective setting and good health, it would not be used.  You might want to think about the risk to benefit on etomidate in the situation of emergent, life-saving surgery where a patient is in hemodynamic shock.

Ketamine--This is used in veterinary medicine, too. It is a 'dissociative anesthetic', the patient 'knows' what is going on but 'doesn't care', much in the same way a frontal lobotomy is known to do. There can be terrible hallucinations in adults if no benzodiazepine pre-med is given first. A powerful painkiller, ketamine is used in changing dressings and bathing burn patients who have frequent procedures. It is also often mixed with propofol for long facial plastic surgery procedures under 'MAC'. The only time I would use ketamine clinically is the violent patient that might hurt me (i.m. like a tranquilizer dart), and the dying patient who needs blood pressure to go UP instead of stay level like etomidate on induction. You might want to think about situations where life is at risk and give the okay on ketamine in this instance.

Benzodiazepines--are used to decrease anxiety in surgery, especially pre-op. I can take them or leave them, but in cases of cardiac disease, propofol would frankly kill the patient if I only gave that. I use a large dose of versed and fentanyl to keep blood pressure stable. You might want to re-think risk to benefit on this one for alcoholics (withdrawal in hospital can be fatal), anxiety disorder, and cardiac disease.

On The Healing of Surgery:

Scientology says: 

Surgery is a necessary evil that is full of pain and has to be controlled.

Reiki Doc says:

Surgery is a time for deep healing that is personal for each patient involved. For RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION we are pleased to provide what care you request. 

However, surgery can be a time of great joy and service in the healers involved. Many have been called to the healing specialties out of great love for humanity and desire to 'give something back'.  Provided that the patient is sufficiently under general anesthesia, there is little risk of 'pain' being experienced while 'unconscious' so the engram, in my opinion, has little chance to form. The pall and sense of restriction in that room for the length of surgery created feelings that were not 'light' for everyone involved in the procedure. I ask you to question, 'where is the healing when the energy is not favorable to the optimum function of the team at work on the patient in the O.R.?' It's just a thought, whatever you decide is okay with me.

Furthermore, when individuals are trained in energy medicine, vast amounts of healing can be harnessed for the benefit of the patient, no matter what the religion, as health is a divine right and all of humanity is deserving of this gift.

From Me to You:

Thank you for taking me outside my comfort zone. After doing anesthesia for so many years, I had no clue there was any medical 'interaction' with your religion. I consider myself informed and will strive to do whatever possible for the comfort and care of your patients.  It is my hope that my expertise in anesthesia that I shared with you today will help put more of your patients at ease in the future.

After all, Love is the Solution For Everything! 

Do you not agree?

Mahalo and Aloha,

Reiki Doc

Post-Call Reiki

I am so tired right now I am nodding off. Yesterday I worked a twenty-four hour shift on Labor and Delivery. I adore working with the new mothers and their babies. It takes a lot out of you, however. And Reiki helps make the exhaustion of having not slept easier to manage.

I was responsible for the anesthesia care in the delivery of ten healthy singleton babies.  I inherited three at seven a.m. from the anesthesiologist who was on call the day before. I did a c-section using one of the epidurals on one of those patients.

I also trained/proctored a new hire, a delightful woman of thirty-eight who is just starting out. She and I have similar temperaments. I enjoy spending time with her. There is only one more epidural for her to do under observation, and then she is in the O.R. on duty rotations like the rest of the team.

It is hard not to have a little time to squirrel away to the call room in the day. I like to relax and store up reserve energy for the night. I excused myself at two. I have to be careful in the call room. I can't leave all my stuff out. I have a my Reiki Doll Annie, for sending distance Reiki. I have my pendulum Porphy (I name them), my journals, my book I am writing...all would not be understood by a colleague who would happen to walk in. Or even a cleaning lady.

Speaking of the cleaning lady, Maria, my second mom-seriously-caught me in the hall. 'Are you in today? Was that your underwear? Did you see it? It was in the bed?' I was like, 'WHAT?!?'.

Sure enough, she had moved it. A pair of tighty whities, soiled with a brown stain, and a tee shirt. She had seen the guy on call with his girlfriend in the patio while he was on call. Were they having sex in the call room? we wondered together, Maria and me. What should we do with it? You know what we did? Put it in a pillowcase and stuck it in the file folder for billing slips for that doctor!

No wonder why the other OB anesthesiologist had noticed the smell of urine in one of the pillows and thrown it out!

The day was full of the bizarre, the unexpected, the humorous-if-you-look-for-it.

And there were the miracles. Some of the ones that made me cry almost in front of the patient was the patient saying thank you to the nurse for suggesting the epidural even though the husband was pushing the natural childbirth thing and she was ready to bail...seeing the joy on a new mom's face in post-partum when I went to check on her the next day...the baby RN sharing her stories with me about growing up in Vancouver...and the OB whose mom had seven miscarriages before successfully carrying her a to pre-term (35 weeks) and her brother to term births.

Everyone says, 'Rest up, have a good day' when I am leaving the hospital. I do not have the luxury to do that. The car is six-hundred miles past the service due. I have an appointment. I have to go. I also am getting my hair styled for the first time in six months, due to my tight schedule. Tonight, I would like to go to swim lessons to watch the progress of my kids (usually Dad takes them and I work).

When can I rest? In little spurts here and there. When can I shower? Hopefully before swimming so I won't stink!

Where is the Reiki? It was there every minute since the time I showed up to work yesterday. It was there when I gave Reiki and the transition symbol while holding the mother's hand during four c-sections. It was the patience when I had to replace epidurals that were malfunctioning twice. It was the humility in having to accept ruffles potato chips and onion dip at the nurses' station as my breakfast because there was no time for anything else. It was the post-partum charge nurse who made me a cup of the vietnamese coffee we have on L&D because she saw how sleepy I was from a hard case. It was the facebook post of NAMASTE from my childhood friend as I walked down the hall in the wee hours to go put another epidural into a technically challenging obese parturient (woman in labor). It was the text I sent to a friend whose house had been robbed, offering to replace any jewelry that her deceased son had given her if it had been stolen, not that it would be the same, but to let her know I love her and that everything would be all right. It was her post on her page, that 'God had shown her that which could not be taken away by robbers--the kindness and love of family and friends' in gratitude for my offer, which she declined because there was only one necklace from her boy, and that she never takes it off...

Reiki is in the writing I had to do before driving to the car appointment. Before feeding the pets. Before eating myself. I love it more than I admit, this connection I have through Reiki to all of you. I adore being here to guide you, and to console you, to inform you, and to simply wait together for the changes that are going to arrive on Earth.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Dear Patient

Dear Patient,

I want you to know that I love you.

In the almost three weeks I have spent without you, I discovered something important. You see, when I left to have my operation, I thought that I would be comfortable the rest of my life if I never saw you or took care of you again. I was that sick of being a shoulder you could cry on. I was that tired of being just another cog in the industrial medical complex.

In my experience as patient, I grew. I saw your horrors first hand. I saw bewilderment, as different people told me different things, and many did not do what they said they would do. My warm blanket never came. People did not hook me back up to the monitor. No one really cared that I was sick to my stomach or felt weak. It was like an assembly line, and I was just another product being processed through the system.

I saw the world through your eyes.

Isn't it humbling, the great equalizer of all, the hospital gown, and having to wear it?

That quiet call in my heart as I was home myself, recovering, it was for you. For all my life, my calling has to become a doctor. I jumped through many hoops to get through the training. It was my dream come true, in my heart. Being a doctor 'is not like on T.V.' my mother and I say to ourselves, It is an inside joke.

But I missed the part of me that can be there for you.

Last night, as I reflected on my first day back, at L&D, I thought about my patients. The husband, who after asking his questions on behalf of his wife, said, 'I put my trust in you'. When I got to the room, I was surprised, for she was writhing in pain and screaming with each contraction. When I left the room, she was quietly resting, with her head on the pillow and a half smile on her face. The look in your eyes of gratitude made me feel the struggle to get to be her anesthesiologist, all those years, was worthwhile.

We later went to c-section, your baby did not fit. And everything worked out for the best. Your child is beautiful and watching the birth was something I was lucky to be able to do. You do not know it but I was praying for her and you the whole time, with a thing called Reiki.

The first-time mom, with the excellent control of the pain for her contractions, got a 'set it and forget it' epidural. Inserted at eight cm dilation, she sat back with a smile, and every time I checked she gave me a big thumbs up. The entire family, from husband to grandma to auntie, were glad for the gift of taking away the terror of contractions of childbirth.

And the last, you were in the ER. A terrible spinal headache. You simply could not take the pain any more. I did a blood patch. You didn't believe me, but you knew you were there and there were no other options, so you took it. One hour later, when you sat up, the look of relief on your face, and that of your husband's, made my day. I knew the agony of post-dural puncture headache all too well. And I feel a great satisfaction when I resolve it, doing what I have been taught to do.

For you see, when I treat your pain and suffering, I treat my own.

And the world is a better place because of our interaction.

Be free and be well.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Buddha's Epidural

The baby wasn't tolerating labor. The midwife had to come in. The patient wanted to 'go natural'.

Medical advice was to place an epidural to avoid cesarean section. I sat at the bedside, we had a nice chat, my patient and me.  She conceded, 'I want to do whatever is safe for baby.'

 I got a call half hour later to put the epidural in. There was a strange vibe in the room. I sensed it. Trouble. Energetically something is not favorable. The anxious patients are the worst because they are manifesting all KINDS of horrible complications with their flurry of horrible anxious thoughts. It is like trying to swim in river rapids upstream, energetically, when I come work with them.

The conflict is greater energetically, above and beyond the negativity of the anxious patient,  because negative energies (attachments. See Margaret Mc Cormick's work) do not like positive ones. Dark and Light repel.

As I progress towards ascension, it becomes increasingly more difficult for the procedure to have speed and ease of insertion when there are attachments present in the patient's aura. There are always speed bumps.

Think about it.  If you were a dark entity, attached to some lower chakra, imagine what a feast of energy it would be for you to have your host, a mother in childbirth, experience pain. You would have access to and incorporate high-grade pain and suffering into your energetic system. It would be so great to have such pure energy of the vibration you like best flowing into your energetic system. You are a parasite, with no energy source of your own, and you attach to a host when there is a breach in the aura of the host. You are happy there, and cause what pain you can to get by. But childbirth? That is like Thansgiving dinner on a plate with unlimited second servings! Would you want the anesthesiologist to make her comfortable? No way!

I have seen all kinds of things, from spinal headaches, to parasthesias, to catheters not going in, to the needle actually JUMPING out of position. I asked and was told by Margaret Mc Cormick it was the dark entities present in the patient that do this. So today, I was on the offensive. Even before sitting up, I started reiki. Turn on with CKR (mentally), scan, ground, SHK...sit up, position. And who was stuck in my patient's hair as I lifted it to put in the sterile bonnet for the procedure? In a silver throne with diamonds was a little jade buddha! I swear he winked at me! (Buddha ia one of my Karuna Reiki Guides).

I started with betadine prep swirls three times in CKR pattern (scrub nurses take heed!). And then it got tough. Hard technically, lots of complaining, and the usual Dark Entity crap. Totally blind insertion. But I didn't get upset. I never gave up hope. I didn't freak out over running out of local for skin, or fluid for the loss of resistance glass syringe. I calmly used air, something I hadn't done in two years! Eventually it worked. I had the strong support of an awakened RN nurse L, and together we got past the patient, the anatomy fraught with technical difficulty, and the family who watched the whole thing. I felt like I was in the hands of Source, being given a lesson on trust and faith, asking for help from Spirit like crazy through the whole episode! And with patience, Spirit guided me, through this lesson of trust and having faith.

Furthermore, this faith was transferred to the patient, with the eventual cesarean section that followed. The patient was calm, happy, and not manifesting nightmarish complications. Her negative entities, or dark entites (Only Margaret could know for sure for each patient) were quiet for the time being. Frankly, I think they were looking forward to the incision healing and my medicine wearing off down the road. This is a significant step in the care of a patient who could have been fearful and anxious the whole time. It was Reiki and the application of energetic skills that helped her to come to grips with the situation at hand in a mature, balanced way that was brought out the best in her for herself and for her infant.

 Namaste, Reiki Doc

Intuition and the Birth Plan

"How about Bradley?" asked a pregnant ward clerk, while at work on Labor and Delivery, on the subject of possible names for her baby boy.

"Um, NO!" said the entire staff of nurses that were present.

I was new to OB anesthesia at the time, so I asked, "Why not?"

The group gave a collective groan in reply.

The Bradley Technique is one of the more stringent Birth Plans available. The husband has full control over what the woman does in labor. There are very strict requirements of the hospital. When the woman changes her mind, and asks for pain medicine, the husband can say no, and this puts staff in the awkward position between husband and wife. In this situation, according to policy, the wishes of the patient (wife) take precedence over that of the husband. It is not a happy birth.

Over the years, the Birth Plan parturients have made a deep impression on me. For two reasons. First, they have an incredibly high rate of cesarean section over the random population. I have come to notice that the Law of Attraction is at work here in such a way that the entire Labor Deck is aware of it; any thought dwelt on attracts that thought. 'No c-section! No c-section! No c-section!' mentality sends an order to the Universe, which does not process the negative, 'c-section! c-section! c-section!'

There also is a sense of rejection of the medical community and what help there is available in women's medicine when such a family is admitted to the labor deck. There is a denial that a baby can die in childbirth, and that there is the best interest of the mother and child at play in the orthodox birthing process.

This is an emotional mindset that is hard to face facts. Reason often does not work with these patients. As an anesthesiologist, I sense distress and suffering in these couples. Except for the yoga teacher who really wants to 'do it all natural', there is usually some apprehension and conflict between the dad-to-be and the mom-to-be about the impending birth.

I have been keeping this mystery in my heart for several years now, asking the question, 'Why? Why do these families have such strong beliefs about childbirth, come to an orthodox medicine facility 'just in case', and refuse most of the interventions indicated for their labor? Why do they want to have their cake and eat it too? What is behind all this suffering and desire for control?

Then it hit me: what if these women, and men, in some way experienced a death in  childbirth in a past life? What if they incarnated back with the purpose not to die? And their lesson takes precedence over just about anything else that is going on? (for example, the in-utero condition of the infant?)

What if the Birth Plan is a reaction to a past-life event, driven by the desire of the individual to 'Do Over' and erase the scars that were upon their souls?

I have seen women, thousands of women, go through childbirth. I put the epidural in. I go with them to c-section. I see a LOT. And many are in thankful disbelief when all is said and done, and they are alive and the baby is with them, and everything turned out okay. No matter what else happened.

Sylvia Browne once commented that the moles and birthmarks on most of her patients correspond to traumatic events that happened in a past life. I suspect that the need to establish a Birth Plan might stem from trauma associated with a past life birth.

If this is the case, then there is a great deal of opportunity for Reiki, especially Karuna Reiki (TM), to allow for a Healing Birth Experience. Reiki-trained providers can look past the conflict and distress in the current situation to the underlying cause, and flow Universal Light Energy to the process. The dad-to-be and mom-to-be can experience healing on a deeper level, and develop Trust in a caring environment. And hopefully be 'cured' of whatever soul-level component that has been ailing them, making them free to go on to enjoy the love of family and all the gifts family life has to offer.

I think the Medical Community might step back, and instead of ridiculing the couple for their control and anger expressed at the system that the nurses, docs, and techs work in, they would understand the root cause behind all this distress.

One thing that is lacking in the dialogue process is the liberty of time. Demands on the workers in the hospital are extreme, often to the point of sacrificing their personal needs (bathroom, meals, sleep) on behalf of the care of their patients. When a couple arrive with a Birth Plan, there is going to be an extra layer of communication necessary, and more time than the average birth. This time is not compensated to the hospital and staff by the insurance companies. And also the emotional wear and tear of the staff from interacting with this perceived-hostile patient, partner, and possibly doula, is not addressed.

There is much room for improvement. The two warring factions (just read any Primitive Mother Birthing Website) for peace. Divine Peace is the healthiest state in which to enter the world. Divine Peace Birthing! Come and have your soul cared for, as well as your body! We treat your heart and keep ours connected to you throughout the birth experience! You do not need to be silent (unless you may choose), passive (unless your health situation does not permit), controlling (trust that we want what is best for you and your baby!). Many of us have experienced birth ourselves and would enjoy spending time with you, and helping you to have a wonderful experience while you are with us.

Healthy mom, healthy baby...with Heart.

Birthing balls, and candles, and underwater tubs and the like, are crying out for nothing more than that. An un-scary birthing experience this time around.

There is so much room for improvement on both sides! Reiki-inspired birth suites can bring a depth of healing to the entire process, for all!

Namaste,

Reiki Doc