Today was my first day at ICU - Intensive Care Unit, it's where people who have just gone though surgery stuff come, and the staff here takes care of these patients who are in critical condition. A lot of the patients here are unconscious due to sedatives and pain killers, but most of the them get better and recover from within a few hours to a few days. There are deaths but... I know that watching people die doesn't affect me.
It was pretty action packed for my first day here. I spent more time watching my supervisors hooking up a patient who just went through a double bypass open heart surgery than doing work. It was fascinating, and I've learned a lot of things. I also met a doctor, who just happens to be an anesthesiologist. He seemed really interested in my studies and thought I was kissing up to him when I said I wanted to be an anesthesiologist. But it was reassuring to hear from him that my interest was exactly what I thought it was, he left promptly after seeing that the patient is stable and said that he'll see me around. Later I found out that he's a real chill guy who's gonna be at BCH for a long time, and he loves to teach. Score....
Seeing all the people in the ICU, old people who had heart surgery, brain surgery, people who have been shot, who are drug addicts, people who have no spouse or children, people who have their entire family surrounding them. It doesn't matter who they are, what kind of life they have, when they've been severely injured, they're just a vulnerable body in front of us. It makes me realize that no matter who you are, you're made of flesh and bones just like everyone else. The only thing that sets you apart from everyone else is your mind and spirit. The essence of our being is not our physical bodies, but what we do with that body. Our mind is our biggest asset.
"Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter" - Yoda
ah, love the reference to light in the quote and in the picture.