Optimism

One of the fun parts of being 8 months pregnant and on rotations is seeing the reactions you get from patients, nurses, visitors, housekeeping, doctors, etc. This morning as we were making our rounds with the attending physician we stopped in the room of a patient I had just met last night in the Emergency Department. While I was standing there the patient's wife looked at me and said, "Are you the one we met last night? I remember the belly, but turn and let me see your face." So I did and she said, "Okay, now I remember you. I just wanted to make sure." She then asked me how I was doing in reference to being pregnant and working, especially since it had only been about 12 hours since she last saw me.

As soon as she asked this question my mind started racing. In the split second before I answered it I found myself thinking about how I had already been in the hospital for over two hours and it was only about 9AM. Then I was thinking about having to fight a stiff and sore body in the middle of the night just to make my way to the restroom. And then how painful it is at times to roll over in bed at night because my body is cramping on one side so I have to change positions. Then I was thinking about the 65 hours/12-13 hour days I put into clinic last week with only 1.5 days off for General Conference weekend when family was in town, and the 3-5 hours straight I spend in the mornings on my feet as we round through the hospital with the attending physician. Not to mention the day I was literally running through the hospital after my team from the 3rd floor, south side, and down the stairs to the 1st floor, north side, because someone had collapsed in the main lobby and my team was on code call and all the while the veteran men in the hallway saying "Oh, careful there miss!" And on top of that my swollen feet at the end of the day. So you can imagine how surprised I was to find myself answering quite happily that I was "doing great!" and "moving right along!"

After this sentence left my mouth, I realized it was true. I am doing great! How could I not be when I am so blessed at this time with good health so that I can still be on my feet and very mobile to the point that climbing several flights of stairs multiple times a day with my team members is still an option instead of having to be confined to bed rest? I also thought of all the amazing experiences I was having with people I met each day, and the priceless learning opportunities I was a part of. All of these by far outweigh the small discomforts. In essence, the only difficult part of being in clinical rotations is being away from my family so much, but even in that aspect the Lord is blessing us and sustaining us so much that I cannot help but be happy, optimistic, and full of gratitude!