tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628616877664827988.post8994490933032755986..comments2024-02-17T14:50:54.001-05:00Comments on Notes of an Anesthesioboist: On Seeing and Being Seen: a meditation on the social psychology of medical interventionT.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09208990104460795917noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628616877664827988.post-84427695294119445152007-06-24T23:30:00.000-04:002007-06-24T23:30:00.000-04:00Lee, thanks so much for sharing that story. I adm...Lee, thanks so much for sharing that story. I admire you for helping that child - which means you did better than the social psychology research shows most people do in those situations! EVERYONE has that initial thought - that someone else must be about to take care of it.<BR/><BR/>And Maria Eugenia - first, thank you for visiting! It's always nice to know of a fellow-anesthesiologist who loves and honors her work. Secondly, what a wise insight you brought up, that we have reverted to a "cave era" for relationships despite our "advances" in communication. It's a good reminder for all of us to make those moments of contact really count! Thanks!T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09208990104460795917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628616877664827988.post-84622374976158592382007-06-24T23:05:00.000-04:002007-06-24T23:05:00.000-04:00sorry, the comments were intended for a hug for th...sorry, the comments were intended for a hug for the anesthesiologist, not for this.<BR/>But, as matter of fact, I could add some words: is not the system, is the people that forgot to care about others, no matter is in a hospital, in the street, in the market or at home. We are in the information era for technology and, at the same time, in the cave era for quality of life and relationships. I've a friend, an old doctor that was Victor Frankl's alumni, that talked about that in a conference: we know more, we have more, but we are less. Kind of sad truth. When I read about these terrible stories, I apologize as a doctor (not that it revives Edith) for not caring enough. God forgives us, each and all of the medical staff (and that includes nurses, doormen, paraclinic, and so on).DraMaruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13509219556516397792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628616877664827988.post-90646822980863293102007-06-24T22:51:00.000-04:002007-06-24T22:51:00.000-04:00I'm an anesthesiologist also. I chose to be one wh...I'm an anesthesiologist also. I chose to be one when I learnt that I woulb be a bridge between pain and people, and also to be a kind of firefighter for life in the O.R. I loved true emergencies there, the rush, the life&death situations. Anesthesia is beautiful. complicated, demanding it eats us alive, but this is the price. Think about it: how could anyone tolerate a surgery without the anesthesia bridge? Many did, in the past, and it was like hell. Thanks God is very different today. And yes, we are full time doctors like surgeons or cardiologists. And we care. Pain is a dreadful thing.DraMaruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13509219556516397792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5628616877664827988.post-29501989644652897922007-06-24T11:54:00.000-04:002007-06-24T11:54:00.000-04:00I remember a babysitting job I had the summer when...I remember a babysitting job I had the summer when I was 14 or 15, minding two young children. We often went to the local swimming pool where lifeguards were of course on duty, but my two charges were small enough to stay only in the shallow paddling pool. I tried to watch them carefully, and fate must have been smiling on me, because they were fine. However, one afternoon quite a few mums were in attendance with their kids, and somehow a small toddler - if my memory serves me, he couldn't been more than two - somehow slipped and ended up facedown in the water. I watched for a moment or two, at first thinking he was playing, then suddenly aware that he was not, that in fact he was flailing ... actually drowning? I'm reluctant to admit that I didn't react at first - there were all these <I>adults</I> around - but then I did spring to my feet and haul him out. <BR/><BR/>I can still remember my first shameful thought: someone else will take care of it. As a result, I've always been painfully aware of how easy it is to become a victim of group inertia, and like you, sincerely hope that I'll always err on the side of caution.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.com