Back

It's been over a year since I've posted.

Yesterday I got a text from a random friend who had somehow discovered my blog through surfing the web, and instantly recognized the writer behind the posts. He essentially yelled at me for quitting.

I will cut to the chase and finish the story of the last patient we visited in Complications, before I even go on to explain where the hell I've been for a year.

Dr. Green, Dr. Lee and I found the surgery floor and they updated the front desk staff on the situation. Since this was Dr. Green's patient, she wanted to take care of her herself in the OR. The staff started doing their "thang" on the computer system to get the ball rolling.

"Do you operate here?" the woman behind the desk asked.

"No," Dr. Green replied, "but I keep up my credentials here in case of emergency situations like this next door."

The woman stared at the screen, punched keys, wiggled the mouse. "I'm not finding you."

The two doctors I stood next to were clearly outraged. Dr. Green began to stutter out how she had just put in more paperwork for credentialing here and received a letter confirming... Dr. Lee, in a manner only a surgeon could project stopped it all.

"I'm the head chair of the Credentialing Board here. If I need to, I approve her. Now."

Awkward silence. The lady looks confused... "I'll do what I can."

Soon Dr. Green whisks away behind the doors to start scrubbing up and I'm on my way back to the clinic. It's strange to go about the day after such an incident. I apologize to my patients for the delay, but don't want to scare them by describing why the doctor won't be able to see them for a bit.

Dr. Green returns later. She reports that she was able to manage the hemorrhage easily in the OR, without hysterectomy or any lasting concerns. Her and I return to the hospital to visit the patient in the PACU. She is post-surgically woozy, with the attentive PACU nurses at her side eager to make her comfortable. But she's ok. Dr. Green talks to her for a bit, and I don't have much to say but I squeeze her hand and move some hair from her face.

She goes home that night to her children and husband. And I go back to work the next day.