My Journey Toward Mindfulness: A Personal Narrative

[摘要] The call for admission came on a Friday morning; Clarisa* was a term previously healthy 2-month-old girl with an apneic episode at home. This sounded like so many other “apparent life threatening event” admissions that we would admit for a day or 2, no episodes would occur, and we would discharge them with a diagnosis of likely reflux and educate the parents on the appropriate precautions.When first meeting the parents, I was struck by how earnestly they soaked up every word I said. They looked at me with unabashed trust when I explained how I realized that this was a scary time for them, and that we would do our best to uncover an answer and would not send them home until we and they were comfortable. Over the next 48 hours we diligently monitored Clarisa and, just as we expected, no episodes occurred. There were, however, a few puzzling things about her physical examination in addition to some abnormal laboratory tests. With each test we ran, her mother would listen attentively to our explanations and encourage us with a smile. “Do whatever you have to do,” she said. Rarely have I encountered a parent with such complete faith in our care and medical system.On rounds Monday morning, the intern presented Clarisa while I examined her. After palpating the infant’s abdomen, she began to cry. Her face turned red, then purple, then blue. Her cries became silent, and she went limp in my hands. Her mother, standing at the bedside, cried out, “She’s doing it again! This is what she did at home!” After a few seconds of trying to stimulate her without success, I asked the resident to call a code and proceeded with the resuscitation. Within 60 seconds, the room was flooded with people. As the …

[学科分类] 儿科学

[关键词] Campylobacter;proljev;dob