I guess it had to happen sometime...

[mom_of_the_year]

Today one of our patients died in the ER. He was a 3 year old who had a cardiac catheterization yesterday. He spent the night in PICU and was released this morning to go home. In the car on the way home his parents said he seemed not quite right and turned around and brought him back into the ER. There he arrested on the table and never

Comments

I know why

[anonymous]

You are great at what you do and you love children. It makes sense to me why you work at a peds clinic.

I really appreciated this; came back twice

[anonymous]

"Those parents now have to go home and wash the dishes that their son ate breakfast out of before they came to the hospital yesterday, and wash the clothes that are still dirty from him wearing them the day before, pick up the toys that he probably scattered while he waited for them to get ready to go."

This piece of writing (and several others) is very perceptive. You would be surprised how few people (even in the medical community) are able to play out the pain "those parents" have to go through. Even good doctors and nurses get jaded, sometimes out of necessity. You want to maintain some kind of balance between being human, which makes you a better caregiver, and insulating yourself from other people's suffering.

There is a great quote from Mother Teresa:

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, only more love."

Love,
Barbara