Heavy legs, heavy heart
Yesterday was my first day to do speed work on my 5K plan and I have been looking forward to it for weeks. The plan was run a total of 5 miles including 4×800 with 400meter jog in between, pacing at 5:03. Which meant run an 800 in 5:04 and then jog a 400 to cool down and do that a total of 4 times. I ran a mile and started my 1st 800 and just felt really heavy, I struggled the whole time! I kept tensing up my neck and arms and basically felt exhausted. My times didn’t reflect the way I felt too much: 1st-3:54 2nd-4:36 3rd-4:29 4th-4:32. I had a really bad day at work the day before and think it is possible that the stress just had me tired. We don’t normally diagnose people with cancer in the ER but Wednesday we had a 2 year old boy with a 3 week history of abd. swelling and a knot behind his ear. Long story short his CT abd. came back showing a large tumor with kidney and adrenal involvement. When the report came back it was just like some one pulled a plug and all the air came out, I just felt deflated, as did the rest of the staff. The young parents were hispanic and spoke no English. They had borrowed a car to get there and they also had a 3 month old in tow. After getting the pt. transferred to a specialty hospital, one of the nurses who used to be EMS talked the ambulance crew into taking the whole family in the ambulance. We borrowed formula from OB, wiped out our diaper stash, fed the parents with un-eaten trays from ICU and collected money for them to get through a couple of days. Some one said to me once that they could never be a nurse/doctor because they couldn’t stand to see people hurt…..health care workers can’t stand to see people hurt so much that they are willing to put self aside and are moved to action. To all the health care workers on BodySpace…Thanks for what you do!!!
September 26, 2008 at 6:45 am
Awww that definatly could have been what knocked the wind out of your sails girl! That is a lot to have to see, comprehend and process. I cant imagine. The Canadian Health Care system (while starting to fall in some areas) at least provides that everyone gets health care. But even still….it doesnt mean that the cases the workers deal with are any less heart wrenching.
I’m so totally thankful for all the nurses and doctors…you all make a huge difference when we do come in for care!! THANK YOU!! And BIG HUG!!
September 29, 2008 at 5:43 am
That sounds like a tough situation. However, you and the rest of the staff acted with amazing compassion and empathy. I hope things turn out for the best for that family. It can not be easy seeing those types of things on a daily basis. Keep fighting the good fight!