During these past 8 days...
... I've moved, resulting in a rediscovery of so much richness within the ordinary interactions I can have with those around me.
... I've spent approximately 105 hours in the hospital, with 2 overnight calls, and gained great appreciation for the interns, residents, and physicians who continue to surprise me with their patience. I have yet to meet my stereotyped surgeon.
... I heard a previously undiagnosed heart murmur during a routine physical exam done for the purpose of preparing a patient for surgery.
... I watched swallows flitting through sunlight, hovering by tubes of mud with chirping youngsters four stories above the ground, with only a pane of glass between us. It was a surprisingly meaningful experience that gave reason for re-centering of perspective--what vibrantly living moments exist just outside the windows of these sick patients' rooms that surround me, and what potential for joy and meaning in something as common as walking down a hospital hallway.
... I've gained a smattering of competence in running around a hospital that was previously unfamiliar, in navigating paper charts, and in feeling the potential to be useful to my superiors. And I've found that I can make patients smile, feel heard, better understand the reasoning behind a physician's concern about numbers on a paper.
... and I've interacted with people. Living, breathing human beings. I'd almost forgotten how this felt, and the potential within it. I no longer am responsible to spend 80% of my time in isolated study. It feels like I've been given a chance to live meaningfully again.
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