A Little Reminder

Two nights ago, I saved a woman's life. No, not me alone. But I was the attending nurse, she was my patient. And if I hadn't gone to her as soon as she called, if I hadn't taken the proper steps right away, she would have died. No, I'm not bragging. It's the truth. Not just because I say so, but because the other nurses said so, because her doctor said so. But most importantly, because SHE said so. If I hadn't given the right medications immediately, if I hadn't ordered an EKG at that moment, if I hadn't insisted on immediate lab draws, if I hadn't called for back-up right away, if I hadn't done everything I did, when I did it, she would have died. She almost died anyway.

Tonight, I saw she was back on our floor so I went to visit her. As soon as I walked into her room, she began to cry. She said she didn't think she would get to see me again. She gave me a big hug and said thank you. She told her family I was the one who saved her life. Her daughter came over and gave me a big hug, thanked me for calling her, for telling her to go to the hospital. She thanked me for saving her mother's life.

I never chose this path. God led me to it.

When I was young, my grandfather died of a massive heart attack, and I had to grow up without someone that I still miss 30 years later. Now, here I am, a nurse on a cardiac floor. And every time I save someone's mother, father, grandparent... I know what I am giving them. I know it more than they do. And I am grateful that they don't know. And I know my Papa is smiling down on me.