Monday, July 06, 2009

I came home from work tonight to find my puppy covered in doody. It seems she had diarrhea in between the time my friend came and took her on her afternoon walk and the time I arrived home. What a way to end a day! Ugh. . . .

I put a post up on the Sandbox, sorry I was not inclined to write anything over the 4th of July. There was simply too much emotion associated with the holiday weekend. Today when I arrived at work I was dismayed to see our severely wounded young man still with us. I watched his parents stand by his bedside and grieve. The pain and fear were only too evident on their faces. Oh, it was so incredibly sad. The patient himself lies in a drug induced slumber. On a regular basis we decrease the meds to wake him, once awake enough he looks around and begins to cry. Every single time we do this he awakens and cries. How much pain does one endure?

I talk with one of the trauma surgeons and we both agree we do good work. We can put the physical body back together but the psychological? For this patient? I already feel we failed him. We willed him to live when he was already dead. We used all our skills and great technology to bring him back to life. We put his remaining body back together but at what cost?

I try so hard not to judge. It is not for me to say who lives and who dies. I only know it hurts and I struggle with that knowledge.

1 comment:

Don said...

One of our dogs developed diarrhea about 2 weeks ago. The day before my wife was leaving for a week in Maine. And the same week that I was in training all day Monday-Thursday so I couldn't come in late or leave early. Day one there were 2 mudpies on the floor. Added newspaper to the target area. Day two there were 4 in 3 different places plus a huge puddle of urine that ran downhill (old houses do not have level floors). Vet said she had to see the dog but was closed for the day. Dog was refusing the yogurt with Pepto-Bismol mixed in so I gave up on that and switched to rice (1/2 cup cooked) with chicken broth. Day 3 no mudpies no puddles. Day 4 one huge loose pile. By the weekend she was back to normal. No thanks to the vet.