Dooley Noted: 3/21/15
Last night, I ended an arduous midweek.
It wasn’t particularly hectic, but I was hit with significant stressors.
In my despondent state, I took a moment to wonder if I was actually doing anyone any good.
For a quick moment, I heard myself whisper, “Am I following the right path in life?”
Then, my last patient of the week arrived.
It was visit 4.
She told me how strong she was becoming, and how she was becoming more and more stable without the use of assists.
On visit 1, she told me how she was in such crippling pain when she met me that she couldn’t imagine carrying a child one day.
After visit 2, she was with child.
After visit 3, she admitted she questioned whether or not she should continue with pregnancy.
But her newfound strength and stability helped her grow confidence.
At visit 4 last night, she was more than ready to continue with pregnancy.
She and her husband gave me too much credit. But still, I was part of a process that helped them grow confident that the pregnancy would not cripple her.
All the vicious gossip, heartbreak, and jetlag in my week became trivial in the big picture of work I needed to do.
This work was important – not just to me, but to my patients.
It was an emotional subway ride home, full of a new level of happiness that can only be obtained from pure agony.
From my personal hell pit rose a Deus ex Machina.
And they felt the same way about me.
I am forever changed by the extremes of last week’s events.
But I learned a huge lesson.
You can cry a river about your problems.
Or, you can be the solution to someone else’s.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley