Life is short.

My patient yesterday was a 16 year old male who had a GSW (gun shot wound) to the chest and abdomen. He was on versed drip, fentanyl drip, has CVP monitoring, ARTline, on mechanical ventilation via ET Tube, NG tube, foley catheter, pain pump to his Left side incision w/ Thoracotomy, Chest tubes on the right & left side. During the morning, he was extremely hypotensive. His Hematocrit and hemoglobin (lab values to know if you're bleeding or not) were so low.

 In short, he has A LOT of things going on.

But anyways, i had him yesterday and the mom visited him. 

It was so painful to see a mother see her 16 year old in a critical state like that. 

I can see the sadness in her eyes and the worry that she can lost her son. She stayed inside the room for a few mins, just quietly looking at his son.. For some people, silence is a good thing, but for this moment… It’s almost like a shattering piece of glass inside her heart. 

I always try to put myself in the shoes of my patients or my patients’ family.. and yesterday was a tough one. 

It made me realize how short our life is. We NEVER know when that day will come. It can happen any time, any day. Sometimes when least expected. For this kid, it was the other day when he was just sitting in his garage with friends eating burgers.

Before i left my shift, I talked to him (even though he was sedated) and told him to feel better because he has a mother who’s patiently waiting at home for him. I know and I am certain that he can hear me.