Day 70

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
        -J. R. R. Tolkien

Trauma Surgeon Reflects on Growing Close to a Patient in Spite of Emotional Difficulties

By: Raminder Nirula, M.D., M.P.H | Feb 19, 2013 8:00 AM
As trauma surgeons we often have to disassociate ourselves from the stories that surround our patients so that we can focus on their life-threatening injuries. It's also how I personally cope with the devastating injuries to the patient and the aftermath left for the family. Sometimes, though, I am caught off guard and my defenses aren't strong enough.
A middle-aged man was brought in one evening after being hit while riding his bicycle. He was bleeding to death, with a badly damaged lung and a broken pelvis. I opened his chest to remove the damaged part of his lung and repair what remained to stop the bleeding. We gave him fluid and blood to keep his blood pressure up. But his abdomen became swollen, and the pressure in it was preventing blood flow to his organs. I opened his abdomen immediately to release the pressure, and he started to improve.

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