Just Enough.

Just when I think I don't know enough, don't understand the workings of the mind and body, I'm shown that I do know "just enough."

A mother brought her 16 year old son in with a lacerated finger. She was very mad at her son.
She said he was fighting with his brother.

Each time I came into the room to set up for sutures, to check on the Dr's needs and progress, and then to clean and dress the repaired wound, I could see that mom was calming down. As I cleaned and wrapped his finger, we talked about what had happened.

His brother has ADHD and is difficult to get along with. I said to my patient, "So you have to be the strong one a lot don't you." He said, "I never looked at it that way before."

His mom said, "I'm sorry I got angry son. I have a hard time dealing with your brother. How can I expect you to do it any better."

I really felt like I had opened a door for these two to walk through together.

I knew just enough.

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Tonya and I just got back from Cabo San Lucas. A week in the sun always helps me keep my perspective when I go back to work. There is a big world out there. Mine is such a small part of it. And standing on a beach watching the waves come in, the sound, the smells, the ocean breeze, these things stay with me for a long, long time.

When accents matter.

The triage nurse came into the nurses station and said the man she just triaged was delusional.
"He may be a mental case." she said.

"Why do you say that?" We asked her.

"He says the gods dropped him off. He says the gods were after him and then the gods dropped him off at the hospital."

After further evaluation it was found that the man had a New York accent and was talking about the guards from the jail, not the gods.