Robbed

One of the amazing things about being a physician is getting to know your patients. This, I suppose, is obvious, but nonetheless it is one of the things that medical students look forward to.

Spending so much of my time in the world of trauma and surgical critical care has altered that aspect of medicine for me. For one thing, most of our patients are so sick that they are not able to talk or even capable of forming a relationship. And for another thing…a lot of our patients are, well, quite honestly, not people that I would normally befriend. A lot of our patients are not exactly stand-up members of society. It doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the best in care – hence what I do, and the hours I serve – but it does give one pause. The majority of our patients are drunk drivers, addicts who had an accident, or victims of violent crimes who are almost never as innocent as they proclaim.

The other night a bunch of kids got drunk, held up a store, and pulled a gun on the clerk. Shots were exchanged, and one of the kids ended up taking a bullet in the eye. We spent all night – and the next several days – taking care of him. He’s minus one eye, but should do fine.

Driving home yesterday (always an interesting task after a 30 hour shift) a homeless man approached my car at a stoplight. He held a sign that simply read, “I don’t rob, I don’t steal, I’m just homeless and need money.” Hell, if he’d only start robbing he may risk an eye but he would at least end up off the streets for a few days. Would it be worth it? I didn’t have any cash on me. All I could think of was that if I were homeless, I bet I would steal. God forgive me, but I probably would.

I recently remembered the French root for the word “bereavement” is “to have been robbed.”

Speaking of forgiveness, today is supposed to be the end of the world. Do you ever wish it would be so? Do you ever find yourself wanting to have things so completely taken out of your hands? So much of trauma surgery is about eliminating the mayhem that surrounds critically ill patients. It’s exhausting. The rapture of God’s creation is one scenario that I wouldn’t be expected to try to control. It’s a refreshing thought.

Well, I fully expect to wake up tomorrow morning and go to work. I’m sure my one-eyed patient will be waiting for me.