Honoring the Dead

Zen Haiku by Natsume Soseki:

Crazy butterfly
Flirting with flowers
Honoring the dead

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My body is very sore this morning. We worked a code yesterday in ICU for over 30 minutes. The compression team consisted of me and one little girl from respiratory (who weighs all of about 110lbs). Nobody else offered to jump in. So here we were, doing our best with the new BLS standards. Compressions at 100/minute at the proper depth can kick your butt. At one point, one of the 2-doc team praises me for my compressions saying I "must've had my Wheaties this morning." Needle decompressions, chest tubes in, compressions all the while, Epis, Atropines. No luck. Poor guy. Only 50.

This day, as I study (catch up) my Pharm and Statistics, I cannot but help think of this man and his family, and what they have lost. My pain is so minimial compared to all who have sacrificed, and many who have much more than my physical pain to deal with.

So, I hope on this Memorial Day that you, too, have moments throughout the day where you stop and honor those who are gone from us.