Life is precious.

When someone tries to tell you that you are inadequate... what do you do?

PROVE THEM WRONG.

The past few weeks have been tough.  Okay... maybe it's more along the lines of horrific, painful, & awful. In every bad situation, it is so so so important to try to find the positive.  For the past week, I did not have that ability.  Today?  Well... I didn't cry today, so I'm feeling slightly more confident and more able to highlight the good :) The positive is that I learned that you have to do whatever it takes to survive a bad situation- no matter the pain or sacrifice.  I also know that a bad day doesn't mean a bad life and it takes bad to make the good that much better!

Being a PA student has it's good moments and bad moments.  You are expected to know everything about everything and let's face it, my brain just isn't that big!  The 4-wk pediatric liver/small bowel transplant rotation I'm doing is very specialized; PA school does not teach you about indications for orthotopic liver transplants, histologic findings of autoimmune hepatitis, titrating prograf & sirolimus medication levels, and signs of organ rejection.  All of which I am expected to be an expert at by now (day 14). Luckily, I know how to survive on little sleep so my nights are spent studying and mornings begin with an early wake-up call at 4:30am to head to the hospital and pre-round on my patients for the day.

The good moments in my day are things like seeing a sick child laugh, holding a patient's hand as they undergo paracentesis (procedure that removes fluid from the abdomen), and hearing that a patient asked specifically for me.  Looking into the eyes of a horribly sick child and knowing that you are helping them get better is one of the most gratifying feelings in the world.  The children I assess every day are critically ill.  They are either post-transplant, or back in the hospital with complications after having a transplant.  Most children are under age 10, severely emaciated, and have been in and out of hospitals their entire life.  If it doesn't make you appreciate the blessing of good health, I don't know what does.

Life is precious.  Forget the bad, focus on the good. And always remember, tomorrow is a new day.