2004-04-05 - 10:16 p.m.
so on thurs of last week a woman coded. after our surgery. it was me and the anesthesiologist late at night with little to no support and i ran to the medical intensive care unit to plead for some help. there was 15 docs in a room. sitting. signing out the shift. and i said very fast words like code and help and come quick and nobody moved. it was unreal. they asked questions that i was too flustered to answer and not necessary. i gave up after about 10 seconds of trying to get any one doctor to come.
i ran back.
the third year surgery resident took control and i did chest compressions. over and over with the palm of my hand. between her breasts in the middle of her thoracic wall. hard and she shook each time. shook like dead weight. she was full on coding by this time. BP 0/0 heart rate 0. oxygen sat dropping to 0. and after about a minute she came back. it felt so mechanical her coming back like god had nothing to do with holding her here or taking her or crossing over. it was like getting a car to start or a pump to pump. the nurses shot her up with epi and the anesthesiologist intubated.
i went to visit her on sat before i went to hang out. she was shaking in her bed and and mumbling and fully dependent on the ventilator. and i told dipti that i wonder if reviving her was worth something.
and today when i walked into work i saw her arm go up. and i walked over and she was alive like really alive.
and pretty lucid. and we talked in spanish. and i was so happy. made my day. i felt like crying. i dont know why. but we saved her life.
s
