May 18 | CPE Journal #2: May 17th

I had my first walk through the unit and met with my mentor today. All of that was about as expected – my mentor is wonderful, a perfect Romanian mystic.

Then I was done and headed downstairs, wondering what to do with myself, so I started scrolling through the patient list on my unit when my first referral came in. I checked the patient list and then went on up to find someone waiting for me to give me the run-down. The patient had just undergone some major and rather traumatic surgery and was in some distress. This patient had some conditions that required me to wear a gown. I asked about gloves, and they said it was up to me. I told them I thought I should like to touch the patient, so they told me to do so. I put those on and went in. It was a little weird to do that.

Being with this person reminded me a lot of being on the Crisis Line, but it was far more beautiful than that. Instead of a voice on the other end of the line, there was a living breathing person there in front me – and in this case weeping. My hands were held, squeezed, and kissed.

This patient had to be the strongest, most faithful person I had ever met. Although the weeping and yelling were almost constant, this person’s faith never wavered – the only desire was to be closer to God. We prayed together – “More prayers, please, more prayers,” was a refrain – and we sang songs together.

It was such a great gift.

-Clarity