Salve! ye dumb hearts. Let us be still and wait by the roadside.

Salve! ye dumb hearts. Let us be still and wait by the roadside. --Kate Chopin

Post call. Didn't get much sleep and only a small nap at home today. After call its so hard to leave the adrenaline behind. I ran around the hospital so much last night that I think I have shin splints now (I know I don't but it makes me feel like I exercised if I pretend I do).

So much death occurs at the hospital but it is accompanied by so much life. When you enter the hospital life's little details are left behind; when illness strikes one sifts and winnows out the important from the cacophony of little details that aren't. One of my Attendings told a patient last week, "One of the blessings of cancer is that your life gets very quickly re prioritized." As an intern, I watch a lot of the re prioritizing happen; life suddenly becomes a lot more clear for many of my patients and they leave the hospital (if they are lucky) with a healing body and a healing mind.

That's one of my favorite parts of my job...watching this happen. Families get closer, hugs are shared, hands are held, bad habits are left behind, people find out they are stronger than they had ever known. Beautiful.

...Baby has finished her bottle and is finally asleep and I think I hear Hubby snoring...I'm off to be still.