4/14/04
Just got back from Taylor's funeral at Mount Olivet Funeral Home. I think the healing can begin, and hopefully I'll remember just the happy things from now on. I gave a speech about Taylor, and read a poem that I wrote. I guess I might as well post it here, but note I'm not a writer at all.
4/10/04
Last night, I went out with some friends before work. We went to a coffee house downtown, called Cafe Coco, since it's about a minute from where I work. About 30 minutes before I had to be at work, my friends decide that they're going to hit up a party down on West End Avenue, so I left them a bit early and went on to work.
Everything's normal at work, and as it's already 1am, I'm starting to get extremely bored. I've been an NA in the ICU for about 2 weeks now, and I'm starting to get used to my routine duties. About 2am we get a call from the ER that there's a guy who's been shot in the face and they're moving him up to our ICU. Things go from boring to exciting, and the floor is fast alive again. The attending, 2 nurses, and myself head to the room.
*NOTE: MIGHT BE A BIT GRAPHIC, IF YOU'RE A PANSY SKIP THIS PART*
The bullet entered such that his face was split in two from the jaw, through the nose, and out the top of his head. The two sides of his face were laying to either side, and he was totally unrecognizable. 1 of the nurses had to leave due to the graphic nature of this injury. The attending didn't really give this guy much of a chance, but he worked harder than I've ever seen him work.
*NOTE: END OF GRAPHIC DISCRIPTION*
I leave the room, as I know in this situation I can be of no help, but I stay outside and watch what goes on. Soon after I leave, the patient codes. I've never seen a doctor work as fast as my attending did, but even so he was unable to resuscitate him. Called at 2:36am.
I'm feeling a bit down, like I do everytime a patient dies, and head down to the break room. One of the nurses comes in and gives me the biggest hug, tears streaming down her eyes, and tells me she's so sorry and asks if she can do anything for me. Immediately I'm confused, and ask her what she's talking about. She looks at me and says, "You didn't know?" Her lip is quivering the entire time. It takes her a few minutes, but she chokes out, "That was Taylor."
Taylor was my best friend at the hospital, and he was one of the guys I was out with earlier that night. He was a 2nd year Internal Medicine resident, and he was my partner-in-crime at that place. We were the prank brothers, as everyone at the hospital called us, and there wasn't a moment we were there that we weren't laughing or cracking jokes. Honestly, he made the tough situations bearable for me.
To think that I saw him hours before he was admitted, and saw him laying in front of me without even knowing it was him...the hospital is going to be a much sadder place without him, and I know my life isn't going to be the same. He was my insight into medicine, my mentor from day 1 at that place. I really don't know why I'm posting about this, I guess I have to get it out somehow, and I don't ever discuss depressing situations with my friends.
:beer: for all who took the time to read this, I'm impressed. Make sure you spend as much time as you can being with people close to you, you never know when you might lose them.
Just got back from Taylor's funeral at Mount Olivet Funeral Home. I think the healing can begin, and hopefully I'll remember just the happy things from now on. I gave a speech about Taylor, and read a poem that I wrote. I guess I might as well post it here, but note I'm not a writer at all.
4/10/04
Last night, I went out with some friends before work. We went to a coffee house downtown, called Cafe Coco, since it's about a minute from where I work. About 30 minutes before I had to be at work, my friends decide that they're going to hit up a party down on West End Avenue, so I left them a bit early and went on to work.
Everything's normal at work, and as it's already 1am, I'm starting to get extremely bored. I've been an NA in the ICU for about 2 weeks now, and I'm starting to get used to my routine duties. About 2am we get a call from the ER that there's a guy who's been shot in the face and they're moving him up to our ICU. Things go from boring to exciting, and the floor is fast alive again. The attending, 2 nurses, and myself head to the room.
*NOTE: MIGHT BE A BIT GRAPHIC, IF YOU'RE A PANSY SKIP THIS PART*
The bullet entered such that his face was split in two from the jaw, through the nose, and out the top of his head. The two sides of his face were laying to either side, and he was totally unrecognizable. 1 of the nurses had to leave due to the graphic nature of this injury. The attending didn't really give this guy much of a chance, but he worked harder than I've ever seen him work.
*NOTE: END OF GRAPHIC DISCRIPTION*
I leave the room, as I know in this situation I can be of no help, but I stay outside and watch what goes on. Soon after I leave, the patient codes. I've never seen a doctor work as fast as my attending did, but even so he was unable to resuscitate him. Called at 2:36am.
I'm feeling a bit down, like I do everytime a patient dies, and head down to the break room. One of the nurses comes in and gives me the biggest hug, tears streaming down her eyes, and tells me she's so sorry and asks if she can do anything for me. Immediately I'm confused, and ask her what she's talking about. She looks at me and says, "You didn't know?" Her lip is quivering the entire time. It takes her a few minutes, but she chokes out, "That was Taylor."
Taylor was my best friend at the hospital, and he was one of the guys I was out with earlier that night. He was a 2nd year Internal Medicine resident, and he was my partner-in-crime at that place. We were the prank brothers, as everyone at the hospital called us, and there wasn't a moment we were there that we weren't laughing or cracking jokes. Honestly, he made the tough situations bearable for me.
To think that I saw him hours before he was admitted, and saw him laying in front of me without even knowing it was him...the hospital is going to be a much sadder place without him, and I know my life isn't going to be the same. He was my insight into medicine, my mentor from day 1 at that place. I really don't know why I'm posting about this, I guess I have to get it out somehow, and I don't ever discuss depressing situations with my friends.
:beer: for all who took the time to read this, I'm impressed. Make sure you spend as much time as you can being with people close to you, you never know when you might lose them.
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