I finished my month on Vascular surgery! I'm pretty sad actually, I loved my team. I enjoyed the amputations, (especially when the gangrenous foot is removed...trust me you can't imagine a worst smell...and don't say poop, poop is nothing compared to gangrene!Give me poop any day!), bypasses, all the wound care (wound vacuum placements are my favorite...it's like a fun puzzle..on a body part). Vascular patients are an interesting bunch, you get those that want to improve their health..stop smoking, control their diabetes, take their blood pressure meds after they have gotten to the point of needing a Vascular surgeon. And then you have the ones that are just like why chop off one toe at a time,just take my whole foot while they complain that they can't smoke in the hospital, that it's painful and why they can't order a burger, fries and 2 deserts( true story). I did vascular for a week last year and I left liking vascular but hating the patients. Basically I didn't have patience for the patients. This time, four weeks, and I finally found my footing with the vascular patients. It was nice to convince the lady that was in trouble not to leave on her own accord and let us take her to the intensive care unit or have a patients teen daughter jump into your arms to say thank you because I stayed with her mother for 40 minutes, to control and stop a bleed by pinpoint pressure all by myself. Those are moments that renew my drive.
More moments that renew me and bring me inner peace is my one day off a week where I spend my day making the most of my amazing gift of life: my daughter
We've done brunch days, beach days, scenic drives,farms & farmers market days, church (If I happen to get a Sunday off). Guess what guys?! This balancing Surgery and mommyhood may actually work! Those are the best moments of the past 4 weeks in a nut shell.
On that note, here is a photo by Philip McKay
that also captures a moment of renewal.
Peaceful.
