Funeral For a Friend: Day 0

Monday night I made pasta and meatballs, the favorite, of my boy. While putting the leftovers away, I felt the overwhelming urge to pack an extra lunch of it for a coworker, Zucchero. She calls me Shaynamadel, a Yiddish endearment, and I call her an Italian one. It means 'sugar'.  This is my signal that someone I care about is close to dying and making the 'transition'. 

Even though I get those 'signals', ninety percent of the time, I dismiss them.

See the part in the blurb about the 'husband nurse who made his wife, who is also a nurse, take one pain pill because he could not believe that she had no pain after gallbladder surgery?'--over there, to the sidebar on the right, in the 'About Me' section? He was in a motorcycle accident Monday afternoon. A car turned in front of him and never saw him. Blunt, multiple trauma. And taken, ironically, to the Trauma Center where I worked with him in the O.R. since my intern year.

Dennis is a survivor of two heart transplants. I had been in a holding pattern since getting the 'group text message' from Zucchero yesterday morning that said, 'wait for more information on his condition'.

On my way to work this morning, I had two 'signs'. Number one, as I was thinking about duality, and how there was not much time left in it, I pondered how there was not much time left 'for making dreams come true'. I had read somewhere that we won't be doing stuff like that any more when we ascend. I haven't any dreams lately...I thought to myself, at a loss. My dreaming function is kind of dead. (After 'no man' and 'no baby with someone who loves you' I kind of gave up on my dreams. I want to Ascend solo. Seriously. No more heartache for me.). I thought about it in a clinical, unemotional way, like I would if I noticed something going on medically with my body...

Instantly I felt a strong hug from Blessed Mother, she held me tight, and promised me that good things are in my Path. I also saw the words on the cab of a truck, that said, 'God is good.'

Okay, I thought. At least I am on time today at work. Funny how five minutes makes a big deal anyways.

As I got my drug box out for the day, the Charge Nurse said, 'I have to talk to you about something.'
What?
"Dennis died."

Instantly, tears struck. I put my head on her shoulder, and cried great big sobs!
Was it the neck? (he may have had a cervical spine injury)
'No. The injuries were just too much for him.'
I KNEW he was ready to go, but just hadn't figured a way out--he loved his wife so much. He was ready to go months ago, before the retirement party. I did Reiki on him, and I sent him the Transition symbol to help...
I looked her in the eye, for she had been crying too, It is not easy KNOWING like this. It hurts just the same. I tried to say things to comfort Zucchero...I tried to help! And even though I will be 'talking' to him, it is not the same. There are no hugs, not like this, that 'feel right' any more...
She looked at me, trying to comprehend what I was sharing as a medium facing death in the family of the O.R. (I worked with him at my old job, with the wife in my new. She worked on me for my surgery. I bear a scar she closed above my belly button. It is perfectly straight and a simple line.)
He drove me home from the hospital when I had my surgery! I am going to miss him! Poor Zucchero! What are we going to do?

And then, it was time to go to work. Everyone was in shock. One R.N. was 'barely keeping it together' outside of Pre Op Holding.

Even the neurosurgeon asked, 'What is up with Charles today? Usually he is so lively?' (Charles was the scrub tech).
I told him the news about Dennis.
The neurosurgeon said, 'I told him not to ride a motorcycle. It is okay to ride when we are young. But as we get older, our reactions times are slower. He did not listen. I am sad.'
He went on, 'I knew Dennis from 1989. I worked closely with him then. This is a terrible tragedy. I will call his wife.'

I felt Dennis once in the O.R this morning. I heard his voice, loud and clear. But then he waited for me to be done taking care of patients. I had a short day. I came home. I took a twenty minute nap.

'It's okay, honey. It's okay. It's okay.' he said. And I got the inspiration to go out in the sun, on a blanket, like I enjoy with the turtle my pet. To eat a big peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the kind he missed so much once the aniti-rejection drugs for immunosuppression gave him diabetes. He told me to go after I write this. I am hungry. I will go.

The O.R. team is a family. We mourn like any family does over the loss of 'our own'. 

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Eighty-six cents

Eighty-six cents. Eighty-six cents. Eighty-six cents.

 That is what I would have to pay Facebook for an ad for Doctors With Reiki, every time one would click on my ad on the sidebar. Or if I wanted to pay a flat rate, I could pay ten dollars a day for unlimited clicks. That would be almost four grand a year! I am in shock. Is Facebook really one great big ad? An experiment in marketing? Wow. Luckily, I don't need to take out ads.

Doctors with Reiki is be word of mouth, both the human and angelic kind. It will select out for a very specific energy, a high energy healing light energy, and will resonate with them. Today, for YOUR eighty-three cents worth of click, we are going to start expanding your knowledge of the Operating Room. Just in case you find yourself there.

First there is admissions desk. They copy your insurance card and have you sign lots of scary forms. These workers are not medically trained. Sometimes they are nice. Usually they are not very friendly.

Next you wait in the surgical waiting area. This part is unnerving. Tell yourself 'this too shall pass' and hug your loved ones a second time. Someone will call your name and escort you to Pre Op Holding.

This is where they will prepare you for surgery. Everything will happen in small steps. Change into gown. Start I.v. Sometimes an orderly will come shave you. The important thing is to check and make sure we are doing the right operation and that everything will be safe.

I have to let you in on a little secret: ninety percent of the time Pre Op nurses are really stressed. They work hard. A lot in information is scrutinized by them. If one seems grumpy, give them slack. They are looking out for you.

The Circulating Nurse makes sure the surgical consent and equipment are ready for your surgery. There is a cart of instruments and drapes set up by technicians according to the surgeon's preference card. But sometimes things aren't there. During the case this nurse runs and gets them. They make sure the table is right (there are special ones for back surgery, intraop x rays, gynecology and urology procedures, bariatric, etc.).

The surgeon you already know, and will sign your consent, answer any questions, and make a mark on the surgical site. The Pre Op nurses will have been nagging them to sign the consent and also have an updated History and Physical in the record. If you pick up annoyance, it is not you. Surgeons dislike paperwork. They are always busy, and paperwork slows them down. But that is the score in PreOp.

Then there is your humble anesthesiologist. When I do cases, I  have been setting up for your anesthetic long before I met you. You do not know. Sometimes I have talked to my buddies to stand by, just in case, at the moment I have you fall asleep (that is called induction) because I am concerned that the breathing tube might not go in. Sometimes it takes more than one anesthesiologist to get you out of trouble with an airway. Do not be concerned unless you have a very small chin, sleep apnea, radiation to the neck, or morbid obesity. I have to ask for help maybe twice a year.

When I walk up to you, I check to see how healthy you really are. I am getting evidence to show that my anesthetic plan is the right fit for you. And for the surgeon. I can numb a part of your body and make you sleepy, or have you go to sleep all the way during surgery, and I will advise you what I think is best.

Sometimes I will put in the I.v. If the nurse is having trouble.

When the room is ready, and if you are nervous, I will sedate you on the way to the O.R. As we walk down the hall with your gurney, you may see, but not remember, the clerk who answers the phone and schedules cases, the cleaning crew, the Anesthesia Tech, and the technicians who clean and prepare instruments. There are X-ray techs, with great big c-arm fluoroscopes. There are sales representatives for surgical equipment, too. Especially the Ortho ones. There are laser techs, ultrasound lithotripsy techs, nerve monitoring techs, and perfusionists sometimes too. There is not lots of time to answer all of your questions. But we make it clear that we are here for you. And that we care.

The last person you will meet is also the most special: the recovery room nurse. These nurses are ICU capable. Don't let their pink scrubs and nice hair fool you! (everyone else wears those blue caps) they are the best at treating surgical pain in the hospital. They will keep you warm and make sure you are not too sleepy when it is time for you to go to your room.

Everyone that is at work is in some way a healer. They would not be drawn to work in a hospital if they did not have the gift of helping others find balance when it is imbalanced (Health). Someone will resonate with you if you let them, and allow the healing overall to take place, not just the surgery part.

I see a lot of O.R.'s on T.V. They are fake. Real O.R.'s are fantastic places where miracles happen every day. I thought you might like to know more about them. We need dialogue between the Yoga folks and the Conventional Medicine peeps. There is so much both segments have to bring to the healing environment. I hope this post will open your mind toward acceptance of what each group has to give toward healing in general.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc