Death. It's part of the job, and surgeons must learn how to cope. But coping may be an impossible task- you take a group of highly competitive and intelligent people, tell them their goal is to save lives, and then expect them to cope when the physiology of an acute injury trumps a surgeon's will to fix patients. This week a couple of horrible accidents brought in young, innocent patients who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Last night, Dr. H recounted talking to a very sick patient's family & how everyone was crying and hanging on to his every word. Keeping patients alive is Dr.H's routine & it's just what he does. Every once in awhile though, he's reminded of the importance of his job- and he comes home with the thousand mile stare.
This weekend we've got two days to escape reality. It's supposed to be cold and rainy, but we'll flee to the mountains, run until we have no choice but to be in the present moment, and feel every drop of rain hit our faces because we're alive...and that's pretty damn amazing.