The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter is a novel that was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was about Hester Prynne, who conceived a child out of wedlock in a small, Puritan Community. The legal magistrates discovered her sin, her going against the system. The child was shunned, and she was forced forevermore to wear a large, red, letter 'A' pinned to the front of her shirt.  Not matter how much they tortured her, she would not reveal who was the father of her love child.

At the end of the book, the reader discovers that it was the town minister who led the church.

Yesterday I got this note from 'The Facebook Team':

"Hi, there's content on this Facebook Page that's harassing meand I'm not sure how to handle it. Can you please help?the owner of this page claims to be a Reiki master , but why would a Reiki master promote false info about people? Please help report this page, eye know you are a true Reiki Warrior, please assist me "

The safety of your friends and family should be taken seriously. Facebook also takes harassment and bullying very seriously and recommends that you respond to this call for help. In some cases you will want to contact the appropriate authorities to ensure everyone's safety. Our safety center has resources that can be helpful to you in effectively dealing with this situation:


The page in question was called 'Exposing the EX'.  I looked at it. It was compelling. There were mug shots and 'avoid this person because of x,y, and z' and all of those reasons were very valid ones! There were also posts about things like, 'if he'll cheat with you, he'll cheat on you'. Cheaters of all ages and genders were posted on the site. And the page only started on March 3!

I put my ex up on 'Don't Date Him Girl' in 2004. I wanted to protect others. If they cared to look, they could know.

My guides wouldn't help me on this. It was up to me. So I asked my son what he thought--he's in school, and I asked him if this was bullying. He would know.

He said, 'report it mom'.

So here is my response to 'the Facebook team':

I reported it.
The energy of the page is hard to discern--on the one hand, there is going to be more and more of the Light exposing darkness, which is basically what is happening here. Just not very well contained, energy-wise. It's not on the up and up, the energy itself is dense and lower vibration, although it is exposing something that desperately needs to be exposed.

This is what a Reiki Master might build something like that page. Not all Reiki Masters do self-reiki every day. Not all of them are spiritual. And some might have ego 'running the show'.

Your page, on the other hand, has very sweet and light energy.

I wasn't sure at first what to do. I asked for guidance, and it was quiet! But I asked my son, who is nine, and a Reiki master. He and I together agreed to report the page, basically due to harassment against people who have a disease (infidelity and drug use, poor judgement). 

As it is said, 'hate the sin but love the sinner', plus, the page Exposing the EX is completely devoid of the qualities of the Golden Age--nurturing, warmth, love and compassion.

Thank you for the opportunity to assist at this time. Aloha and Mahalos, Namaste. Peace.

I'm not much better, myself.

I had a five-year dry spell after I became a mom.

When I was at conference in New Orleans, I was invited to a party by one of my Facebook friends and mentors. When the taxi dropped me off, it was in a really bad part of town, and I had to go upstairs but I was afraid. The place was called The Blue Nile.

I stood at the bottom of the stairs, and panicked. I prayed for help to be sent.

Another taxi dropped off three young guys who were obviously partying. I went to the tallest one, touched him on the elbow, and explained the situation. Would he mind walking me up the stairs to make sure inside were people that I know, just in case?

He was handsome. He agreed after he gave me a hard time about it. And I waved him off with a smile as I went in the door, saying, 'everything is going to be okay'.

At the end of the night, as I came downstairs from the party, there was a crowd. And who did I run into?

Yup.

He asked for my number. Lots of guys ask me for my number. They never call.

This one did.

The night before the party I thad taken a tour, a Voodoo tour, of the city. I was the only single one. It felt awkward, but I have grown used to that awkwardness. I didn't give it a second thought. I just was glad to get to know the story of Marie Laveau.

I left an offering for her earlier at a veve in a store, Erzulie's' (I have the app on my phone, they are excellent).

I felt her Presence. And she made me a promise.

It turned out the guy was a resident at Wisconsin. And anesthesia resident and an anesthesia attending. He was at the same conference!

He came and saw my poster.

He asked me to go to dinner. I asked him to go with me on the ghost tour I really wanted to go see.

We had a nice time.

He left the next day. Or I did. I forget. We kept a correspondence for a while. But he was never going to live where I am, and I was never going to move where he was.

And he was such a heavy drinker that there was no way I was ever going to seek a relationship. I am a 'drunk magnet', if you will.

So I moved on.

Out of the blue last year he friended me on Facebook. It was a growth experience for me to not shun one of my 'exes'. I was like, whatever, dude, cool.

There was some person in the photo with him, but I didn't look to see if he was in a 'relationship'. I thought it was his daughter who would be that age and height by now.

I posted something along the lines of, How do you know an anesthesiologist is good in bed? You FORGET!

And he private messaged me saying I had given him a total French Maid fantasy ever since.

I was polite and said he was 'wonderful' and I shared I hadn't been with anybody since. That's four years, four months, and fourteen days, but who's counting? LOL

I felt his energy--it was one of great sadness and regret.

You see he was the first I could share about my seeing ghosts and being psychic. He totally accepted it. When he kissed me at a bar on the tour, I saw ghosts watching! But his family was from Utah, and they saw ghosts. So for the first time in my life I had been accepted for who I am, and treated with nurturing, respect, love and compassion, even if only for one night.

We actually have a mutual friend, for a surgeon from his residency program now works at my hospital. I mentioned it.

Again, I was not seeking anything more than friendship, because keeping an old love as a friend is something that is new for me.

But on the way to work, oddly enough, I saw a license plate that said, Voudou--it was the French spelling, and it was a reminder of Marie Laveau, who I know without a doubt had sent me Chris at that party...

Yesterday in my private message box on my personal Facebook page, I got this:

I've been innaproriate with my comments about the French maids outfit. I am in a long term relationship for 4yrs. I'm sorry I'm a dick. I won't be talking with you anymore.

I guess I had become more 5D than I thought! LOL. Because his 3D text blocking me makes me think his lover has him on a short leash.  One of the things on the cheating page said, 'Faithful on Facebook page and cheater  in the private messages'.

I smile.

Why?

Because as the Light shines increasingly brighter, so much more that is shadow is going to be exposing the TRUTH.

Please note that although it might appear 'fun' at the time, the energy of blaming and casting out is the energy of Separation and has nothing to do with the Goddess Energies that are flooding the planet, and absolutely NOTHING to do with the Ascension Process.

Keep your Vibration UP, and allow our brothers and sisters who have 'disease in the judgement' department, that led to some pretty heinous--'poor life decisions'--some slack.

This is the kind of letter we should make other people wear on their shirts!

Yesterday was the first day I wanted to run to Ross. The abuse in the O.R. against me was brutal. A surgeon had it out for me, called my boss, and accused me of being 'a slow turnover' and 'not knowing how to do a block'. 

But everything turned out fine, and the blocks worked, the patients were happy, and the third case that was a straight GA went fine. 

The reason for the slow second one is that the technician had gone home and the equipment for the block couldn't be located. The nerve stimulator was in OR 5, not the supply room. It took three people looking for it to track it down. And the person assisting me had never once used the ultrasound. The total time between my two cases was under twelve minutes doing routine prep work, and twenty minutes for the block including the searching. The patient before had a stormy wake up and I couldn't just leave and dump them in PACU. I had to make sure they were breathing adequately.

But it hurt.

As I went over my day with Ross, who had his little pad of paper like a waiter...I started to cry. I just wanted to see his face with my own eyes, and to touch it!

He let me.

I rolled on my stomach, and concentrating with my third eye, I wanted to see him as I knew him when we were married. I traced my finger on the sheet and listened as he described the shape of his eyes, his nose, his ear and I visualized them in the same detail I would look at a patient or anyone in 3D. 

I wanted to see the scars, the little imperfections that make Ross, Ross.

It was the hands that made me cry the most. He used to do hard labor, and there were lots of small well-healed scars on them. 

I also cried about the ear, because I had flashbacks to when he died. It was stomach-turning violent and I saw everything.

I kept saying, 'not dead? not dead?' and he reassured me he was okay, he was fine, he was alive again.

And I slept.

I have no recollection of the night. But this morning I was told by Blessed Mother I would have much happiness today.

I am so thankful some of us get 'pulled' out of our existence here at night, and have someplace to go that is not here.

It's brutal.

Please do what is in your heart to staunch the hemorrhage of cruelty and anger and accusation and ostracizing others today. Bullying affects us all, even your anesthesiologist in the hospital who does your cases. The surgeons are MEAN sometimes. And because they bring a lot of money to the hospital, they get away with it.

I confessed while eating one graham cracker because I was famished, to an RN friend, how I feel that surgeon 'doesn't respect me'. 

She said it's that way with him 'all across the board, to everyone, and not to take it personal.'

That's what people say about them behind their back. Everyone knows. Everyone knows and supports one another. Only the bully doesn't have a heart that's open or eyes that see.

Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. I gave Reiki to that surgeon three times yesterday. I gave it strong. I buttoned his gown (it has to be tied in the back). I was pleasant and professional. And I told him, 'It will never happen again'. That's because I asked my boss never to let me work with him again.

P.P.S. Ridicule is the strongest weapon for Disinformation--taken from this link: http://theunboundedspirit.com/how-disinformation-works/

The Party

Tonight I went out to celebrate the retirement of Mama Flor.

I rarely go out. For lots of reasons. If you work long days that are difficult like I do, the most natural thing in the world, on your weekend, is to want to spend time enjoying staying 'in'.

Everyone who was there was wonderful. I enjoy my coworkers very much. And everyone looks so different outside of their scrubs!

Sometimes you don't recognize them. That's because long hair gets all piled up in the hat all day. For me, it makes mine somewhat wavy--the hat--so in a way it's a good thing. But people tonight said, 'I just want to pet your hair, to touch it'. Two people said it, and they were two separate times. And many people touched it, too. My hair goes all the way down my back, but at work it never shows.

Tonight I had a dilemma.

I had to buy a drink to make the toast to Flor.

I went to the bar. Two of my friends were there. I confessed I didn't know what to order. They let me take a sip of theirs. It had mango in it and blueberries. I didn't like it; it was too sweet. They took their drinks and left.

It was just me and the bartender, and two guys on barstools staring at me across the bar. It was shaped like a letter 'L', and I was on the short part.

I don't know what to drink. I don't go out. I am a mom...I said, plainly.

When I went out I used to drink ketel one red bull, but that seems old-fashioned.

The bartender asked me what kind of taste I want. We decided on fruity but not too sweet.
The next thing he said startled me.
Have you ever heard of St. Germain?

It was surreal. You mean THE St. Germain? I started thinking 'is this a SIGN???'

He explained that St. Germain is a liquor that is from elderberries. It is usually put into champagne (like a Kir Royale, which is champagne with cassis). He said if you mix it with pineapple juice, vodka and soda water it's really good.

So I had a St. Germain cocktail that was made just for me.

He said that will be eleven dollars.

I gave him a twenty. He brought me the change. I said, Wait! Would three dollars be nice for a tip? I don't know how much is enough these days...

And his face relaxed; I had caught him off guard.

Yes, that would be a very nice tip. he said, and he smiled. I knew he meant it.

Bars aren't for me.
But my kid likes to watch Bar Rescue.
I saw that he gave me a long pour on the vodka.

I made it just in time for the Toast.

Flor's dream as a child in Columbia was to come to the United States. She worked fifty years, and sometimes ached so bad because of the arthritis, her daughter said in the toast--but she never complained. She was always smiling and cheerful and ready to work. Because of her work, there was food on the table, clothes to wear, and a roof over their head. Plus, they had the opportunity to attend private school, something that was a dream of their mother too.

Flor cleans the O.R. --everywhere from inside the room (they get messy), to the break rooms, to the bathrooms. Pre-op and PACU too. There is a lot of responsibility with that job. It must be done right. Or else people get infections. Even the temperature and the humidity are tightly  controlled to take care of it. She checked to make sure all that was okay too.

Everyone danced for three hours after the toast.

The D.J. was a surgical technician, the one who inspired me to write 'What Sam Wants'. His name isn't Sam. But he had his boy helping him with the music for us to dance.

They played my 'Happy' song by Pharrell Williams.

O.R. is family.

I saw breast cancer patient R.N. dancing with her surgeon who cured her. I saw the sleep apnea diabetic surgical technician get up and dance with his wife. The receptionist who is shy got up to dance. A few were the life of the party--it wasn't me! LOL--but everyone had fun being together for a night.

I hope this helps the next time you are facing having an operation. The entire O.R. is staffed by people who know each other as a team. They enjoy each other, and work well together as a cohesive unit. And when someone leaves the O.R., for example, with retirement, we bond together one last time, as ohana, just to say Aloha Nui Loa to our own.


Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. Did I give Reiki? You bet. Galactic Reiki to the guardian angel of everyone in the room.
Peace.

The Miracle In My Operating Room!

The surgeon burst into the room while we were readying the patient for his next case.

'I can't believe it! I just saw our last patient. She is totally AWAKE, has NO PAIN, and the pain in her arm she has had for the past two years is SUDDENLY GONE!'

(this never happens with pain patients, not this fast. Ever.)

Our patient looked 'like a rose' in the recovery room

He wanted to know how this miracle happened.

I gave Reiki. But should I tell him? He's not that open...besides...there was something bigger I had to confess...

Hey? Doctor? I have to share something I think you should know...

After THIS:

And before THIS:

I did THIS:

Right as she was about to fall asleep, I  leaned in close and whispered in her ear,  'While you are sleeping, why not let's take Doctor's credit cards and go shopping together! You pick the place, and I'll go with you. Won't that be FUN? You can go any place you like!'

And she smiled a big grin as she drifted off to sleep...

The surgeon stopped in his tracks.

He paused.

He looked at me.

I didn't know what he was going to say, but at least I had it off my chest that I had told him what I had done...

And he smiled.

He said, 'Whatever it takes to make her relaxed and comfortable, that is okay with me. Besides, she is never going to remember!' Then he kept muttering about the miracle...


Sometimes, all it takes is a woman's touch to make the healing complete...

At age four I decided my career <3

Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Don't Have A Cow, Doc!

This is a tale from the O.R.


For the past fifteen years at two different places I have worked with a gifted, very skilled and very nice transplant surgeon.

There is one drawback...

He takes the Lord's name in vain.

Often! If something doesn't go well, it's 'Jesus!' this and 'Jesus!!!' that. The wrong equipment. A delay. An instrument falls on the floor. Someone is not paying attention. Someone hands him the wrong thing...

I have learned that there are different ways he says it, sometimes it's just gentle annoyance, sometimes it's irritation, sometimes it's anger openly expressed.

I cut him some slack because he has an important job to do, and if that's what it takes for him to do his work, so be it. (I am one of his favorites--sometimes he requests me.)

Well the other day, things were not going well. He had a new nurse first assistant, and although words were flying and he even said the dreaded, end-of-his-rope 'Jesus CHRIST!!!!!' The case ended well and the patient did fabulous.

At the end, he was thanking the team, including the nurse who was scrubbed in and helping him with the surgery. He said her contribution was very important, and helpful to him and he appreciated her skills very much. He also asked her if she had any questions....

Now this is the nurse that calls me Shaynameidel (Yiddish for pretty lady) and I call her Zucchero. She doesn't hold back.

There was a pause in the room as she opened her mouth to speak.

'Well, yes, Doctor, I have one question...' she said, simply, 'Why were you calling me Jesus during the entire case????'

The surgeon burst out with Laughter and didn't stop for about five minutes.

The entire O.R. was laughing too.

Laughter IS the best medicine.

(Unless you have stress incontinence...)

Our new Nurse First Assistant

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

And Laughter!!!

The Lesson Of 'Doctor Potty Mouth'

My Spirit went mano-a-mano against a very Low Vibration surgeon yesterday

Doctor 'Cookie'. His last case got added into my room. I vaguely remembered why I didn't like him: one time he sat at the charge nurse's chair at the OR Front Desk, and the head of the Service RN sat on HIS lap and 'ground' in front of the rest of us.  They laughed like it was a joke to cover what we knew was 'not joking'. My friend the scrub tech who has friends in the porn industry got offended and wanted to write them up for harassment after seeing THAT!

The surgeon breezes into the room- where it the F------g music? I will go F------g INSANE if we don't have MUSIC! Okay bitches! Let's get this F-------g case started! He called the RN circulator and scrub tech 'F------ers' and left the room.

I do NOT like his Potty Mouth at ALL! I exclaimed to the scrub tech, who totally cracked up and said, 'that's just the way he IS....' 

I think the surgeon heard that last sentence as he walked in the room with his wet hands after scrubbing for the procedure. He only cranked up the music MORE and cussed more vehemently while he worked.

I chilled.

And then I realized what was going on--The Stronger Vibration Wins. And I was going to BE that Stronger Vibration.

I  tapped in to Spirit. It was like 'meditating uphill' or 'in a bus station'--the equipment, the cussing, the music painfully loud...(we are supposed to 'keep the surgeons happy' because they bring cases and therefore 'money' to the hospital--that's why I didn't confront him. Especially over a fifteen minute case.) The loud music, negativity, and cursing energy were weakening MY aura being exposed to it--I had to be strong and raise my OWN Vibration UP.

You know what? It was a really GOOD exercise for my soul to interact like that.

At the end? Peace. Calm. Many thanks for 'your help' to me directly by the surgeon. (I think he didn't want me to write him up--LOL).

And the moral of the story? The patient was in love with him--had the google-y eyes, and on the table said, 'I am so nervous I want to talk to him and see him one last time before I go to sleep'.

The surgeon was told her request and said, 'no'. I induced anesthesia without him present. 

Some people are 'that way'.

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Walk With Me: Supporting The Community With The O.R.

There is a fountain in the courtyard at the hospital I enjoy very much

When a surgeon 'takes call', all of the diseases and emergencies that present to the hospital through the Emergency Room are the 'on call surgeon's' responsibility. For example, a trauma surgeon would get any and all accidents that happen and are sent to the hospital by the ambulance and first response system. Any car accident (even an elderly wife  backing up over her husband), any penetrating trauma (gun and knife club), any major burn that requires hospitalization.

A vascular surgeon would get 'cold feet' that have 'limb threat' because there is no blood supply going to the leg (or sometimes arm), and emergency surgery is required to find some way to re-route the blood flow before the leg or arm 'dies' and 'gets gangrene'.

A urologist has several emergencies--priapism (look it up) and Fournier's Gangrene (overwhelming, 'flesh eating' bacterial infection of the 'saddle area'--typically seen in diabetics).

An orthopedic surgeon gets called in for serious broken bones that cannot wait. Open fracture (bone sticking out) has only six hours before infection sets in and has poor prognosis.

As you can imagine, there is work to keep neurosurgeons, general surgeons, otolaryngologists, urologists, and even sometimes plastic surgeons (ischemic or bleeding surgical sites) busy.

A surgeon who is on call never knows what they are going to get, what is going to walk in that door, and who is going to need their skills to 'take care of it'.

Neither does anesthesia or the Operating Room staff.

We take care of everyone who has surgery.

Let me repeat--anything that walks through that ER, rolls in on a gurney, or gets carried there by loved ones, who needs surgery, is the work of whoever is 'on call' for the O.R.

That means surgical technicians (scrub techs), nurses, and anesthesia.

We Know What To Do.

There is NOBODY else to help us when we are on call.

For example, when I am the anesthesiologist 'on call' for the main O.R. , when it comes to anesthesia needs, 'the buck stops here'. 

I do it all.

(The childbirth anesthesia is in a different part with a different person in charge of it. That one is 'the buck stops here' for all c-sections, epidurals, spinal headaches, and 'emergency intubations anywhere in the hospital'.)

The last time I took call I did ten cases in fifteen hours. One patient I did twice, once in GI lab, the other  time in the main O.R. I did two ninety-year-olds (one is enough to take years off your life in stress).

I did spinals and general anesthesia. I did patients laying on their back, their side, and their stomach while the surgeon worked.

I did the anesthetic for every kind of surgery we do.  I also had my phone on at home, just in case anything else came in through the night after I came home.

And I gave Reiki. In addition to everything else.

Just to let you know what it is like to 'walk with me'.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

my new shoes have the night sky on them

No Time To Mope!

This was my dream, on that day, twenty-five years ago, naieve as they can be, I walked down the aisle. The organist refused to play 'Here Comes The Bride'. I walked down the aisle to Water Music by Handel.

It was a lovely ceremony.

What is going on in my mind?

My dream died.

I never think of that dream.

Not any more. I can listen to REM and no longer cry.  In my day-to-day I am fine, and never think of it.  Except perhaps to give thanks I listened to my intuition and got out. It would have escalated. I basically left to save my life. I didn't go to a shelter. I studied hard and got in to medical school. Then I cut the ties.

The reason I am sad is for the loss of my dream.

Somehow, I think, God loved me enough to spare me that dream.

For me, it wouldn't have been good at all.

You see in Heaven there are no vows or ties that bind anyone to anything. Yes, there are couples, in 'lives between lives'--only because they are truly friends and really like each other. They 'grow' at parallel rates. Otherwise, when the 'fit' isn't 'right', couples in Heaven move on pleasantly, with no questions asked. Each wants the Highest Good for the other.

How was my day? Oh! There is so much I would like to tell you, but due to certain limitations on what I can say I have to be 'vague on purpose':

• Never do a case with a poorly running i.v. Because the case can get bigger in a hurry and you are going to wish you had a better i.v. You can never have too much i.v. access, my teacher used to say.
• I saw something so awesome that one of the surgeons stopped afterwards and said, 'I need to talk to the anesthesiologist!' Across the room, he said, 'What you have just seen this other surgeon do, is vary rare and talented skill. Only a handful of people in the world could have just done this.' I knew. I was watching the whole time. It was like a pancreatic anastomosis someplace else in the body--very tiny things sewn to tiny things. I enjoyed it. Plus, this surgeon is my friend I have known for almost twenty years. I am one of the anesthesiologists he requests to do his cases. I am 'on the team'. : )
• I also know that this surgeon has very poor eyesight. That he compensates so well, is truly a miracle.
• This surgeon also taught me the concept of 'my American Dad'. He survived extreme hardship.
• When I gave my 'Tour', this is the one that was practicing on the robot in his free time. He stopped, let the 'tourist' sit at the controls, and showed an interest in her. Nice people, you know?
• I can still put in an arterial line at the bedside when the blood pressure is seventy--I haven't lost 'the touch'. LOL
• I dealt with extremely anxious people all day--either patients or family members--and made a visible difference in their faces after having had worked with me. One kept hugging me and saying, 'Thank you!' and the men kept shaking my hand.
• I was hungry and dehydrated the whole time I was doing this. I had no dinner because of a birthday party my son was at. We got home just in time for laundry, shower for the kid, and story. And taking care of the pets!
• My list is long for tomorrow morning. I have a busy day with an ortho spine who likes to crack innuendoes all day and brag about the gym. Yes, there ARE jocks in Medicine, and they are just as 'charming' as they were in High School. 

Thank you God for showing to me I am so much more than a bride! 

I am a PERSON and a nice one at that!

Society is stupid sometimes. In so many ways!

Parties like that, in the first place and at the twenty-fifth, are SO not 'me'.

I bet they are not very 'YOU' either. Just sayin'

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. I was supposed to share about the Reiki intraop I did on one patient. This patient looked 'normal', but it was kind of like that scene in MIB where K goes to that line-up of border-crossing illegal aliens. 'I bet you don't know one WORD of Spanish, do you?' he asked the alien, figuring him out.

Well, I got into the aura and it 'tingled' funny. At the heart chakra, and also in the abdomen. This was strange because we were operating on totally different places, and the patient was 'healthy'. I have NEVER had 'hot' or 'tingle'. This one wasn't um, 'human' in the way that 'alien' wasn't Mexican, energetically. My guides cautioned me to 'step aside' and 'let them take care of it'. The patient woke up fine, and it was like 'nothing had went on' in 3D. But in 5D, it was a very big 'win'. They wanted me to write about it.

Healing Energy in the Operating Room: A Photo Essay

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Forty Seven

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

At the Crossroads

Sam is a hypothetical surgical technician. He is about forty-three and has a life that he enjoys. He works full time to support his family, never liked much to read, but is always seeing the new movies as soon as they are released. He is knowledgable and skilled in his work. The entire OR staff enjoys working with Sam.

One day Sam feels a lump. It is cancer. For someone with his training, he knows more than the lay person what type of treatment his cancer entails. It is debilitating, forces him to take time off work, and the success rate, based on what he has seen at work, is not as great as testicular or Hodgekin's Lymphoma, in other words, it is not a slam dunk. He is in it for the long haul.

Sam faces a dilemma. Everyone has a recommendation, from the family member who supports alternative medicine to his surgical oncologist who is his friend. How is he to make an informed decision? If he looks at oncology sources, they will encourage cure at the cost of painful treatments that will make him feel sick and lose his hair in the goal of eradicating disease. They will cite evidence based medicine to direct his care. If, on the other hand, he looks into holistic healing, the focus will be on relieving his suffering, treating him as a whole person (instead of a patient with disease), and focus on healing. Detoxification is a word commonly used in this kind of approach. The studies are weaker, statistically, but in his mind the focus is on his life instead of his cancer.

What we have here are two conflicting ways of looking at healing. Conventional medicine is based on measurement, observation, and the scientific method in a Newtonian Approach. Holistic Medicine, which is not readily measured and considered less effective because of this, may very well be a Quantum Paradigm: measurement itself produces observation effect and 'distortions', making the whole truth difficult to quantify and write papers.

As a sovereign patient, Sam has the right to make autonomous decisions for his health based on sound information, and not fear.

Option 1: Convention Medicine at a large facility
Option 2:  Conventional Medicine at a smaller community hospital near home
Option 3: Conventional Medicine at a Large Nationally important Cancer Center, possibly relocating
Option 4:  Allow disease to take its course. Palliative care only.
Option 5: Alternative Medicine instead of Conventional Medicine
Option 6:  Complimentary Medicine along with Conventional Medicine
           A: Do not tell Conventional Providers  about Complimentary Treatments
           B:  Openly discuss Complimentary Treatments  with Conventional Provider
Option 7: seek Integrative Medicine (example at Cleveland Clinic http://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/integrativemedicine/about.aspx)

What makes sense? Itis a personal decision, one with far-reaching ramifications. Without having this kind of conversation with a knowledgeable coordinator of his care such as his oncologist, he may choose an option out of a sense of needing not to offend, or perhaps please, someone else in the treatmentof his life-threatening illness. Time is of the essence. Open communication is vital to all people in Sam's life about his treatment plan, from family to acupuncturist.

We all wish for Sam to have as positive experience as possible in light of his serious condition. Only Sam can decide for himself what is truly right for him.

A wise doula once said about childbirth: the important thing is to make an informed decision every step of the way.

Here are some resources:
http://nccam.nih.gov
/http://www.cancer.gov/
http://www.cochrane.org/cochrane-reviews
http://www.mskcc.org/
http://www.webmd.com/balance/what-is-alternative-medicine

What Is An Anesthesiologist To Do?

Everyone knows that the work of an anesthesiologist consists of 'long stretches of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror'. Ninety-nine percent of the time, under anesthesia, during surgery, the patient is hemodynamically stable. If they were too risky, the surgeon and the anesthesiologist would delay the case until the patient is optimized for surgery. Only life-threatening emergencies which can't wait go right to the O.R.

Assuming everything is going fine with anesthesia and the surgery, which can stretch on for in some cases, eight to ten hours, what is the anesthesiologist to do besides filling the vaporizer when it is empty, charting this case, managing this case (filling the i.v. with new bags, draining the foley, watching the monitors, and continuing with the maintenance phase of the anesthetic)?

Here are some things I have observed the anesthesiologist do in an Operating Room:

• read the Bible
• Do crossword puzzle
• watch YouTube
• text
• shopping on Ebay
• read the newspaper
• talk on the phone
• talk to the surgeon (if allowed. One today said, 'Please be quiet, I am concentrating' to the rep and nurse in the room
• read Journals
• research illness of the patient
• prepare for the next case (set up equipment, drugs, and review electronic record)
• exercise (one brought in special rocking devices to fit on the shoes)
• daydream
• drink coffee (old school ones do this)
• study for exam
• do Bible Study and bring Book of Mormon
• review weekly schedule and appointments
• trade stocks and call their broker
• read online news
• check email
• stock the anesthesia cart
• use iPad, iPod Touch, or Smart Phone
• play music for the room--run CD's, Pandora,  Satellite Radio or playlist
• negotiate a scheduling trade with a colleague
• read magazines
• read catalogs
• do Sudoku
• make a 'to do' list for the day
• schedule appointments, for example, the dentist or hair cut
• pray for the patient on the table

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

The Urologist and the Nephrologist On Lunch

Nothing soothes the soul like a proper spot of tea

This story was told to me by my favorite female urologist:

She has had a collaborative working relationship with a nephrologist, who is open to alternative treatments. They rarely see each other. One day, at the hospital, the nephrologist, who is also female, spotted the urologist having lunch.

Lunch, was something in a styrofoam box from the Doctor's Dining Room, eaten as rapidly as possible. In this case, I think it was a salad.

The nephrologist was shocked! "You can't eat like that!" she said. "You have to slow down! You have to experience your food, interact with it, smell it, taste it, and get pleasure from it!"

The urologist never said anything to the nephrologist, but her look to me as she was telling the story says it all: No duh. I know. I have a very busy schedule. It is 'eat like this, or starve'.

She said, 'Any surgeon, OB-Gyn, E.R. doc, anesthesiologist, or anyone that works in the O.R. will understand the time pressures at lunch time. The internal medicine people that work in the Office just haven't got a clue!'

I laughed and shared that sometimes at work I eat when I am not hungry, when I have the time, because I do not know when the time will come up again for the rest of that day!

Discussions like this help bridge the gap between specialties and places of care.

There is a lot to be said for the thought: walk a mile in my shoes.

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