It's Here! "Musings on The Art of Medicine"

This is a little non-food catch up post.  I worked all weekend and have a cold so I'm not moving real fast on Doctor's Kitchen Monday, although I have decided what I'm going to do. Hopefully will be able to knock that out tomorrow.

However, in the meantime, much more exciting to me is this.  I'm officially a published poet.  I wrote "Code Blue" following my first code experience as a student in respiratory school. It's been published by The University of Oklahoma's School Medicine literary journal called "Blood and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine".  I'm on page 8, I whisper to myself...

I've published a few other things: the recipe in the 2007 Farmer's Almanac, two cross stitch designs, several small online food articles, but this one is really special to me.  I love holding the magazine in my hand.  I don't know if I can explain it but all I've ever wanted to do is write. I am a writer. I've never doubted myself. I have always felt, when I finish a story or a poem, that it's the same as me saying "Here. This is me.  This is a small piece of who I am, the best of who I am."  That's what holding this magazine means to me.

Code Blue

By Glenna Anderson Muse

Your flesh still warm

Beneath my palms as I

Compress your rib cage.

Short spurts of blood

Travel your arteries,

A precious cargo of oxygen.

Your mouth slack,

Eyes half closed.

No light behind them

That I can see.

My biceps shudder

Sweat drips off me

To fall on you.

The whoosh of the

Ambu bag competes

With doctor orders

And nurse-called numbers.

And then as if

An actor taking a cue

You breathe.

Your heart pumps.

Back from vacation,

A hiatus of

Bodily indecision.

Released from duty

I step into the bathroom.

While washing my hands

I thank God

For your life.

I realize

I don’t even

Know your name.

Comments

[Kalyn]

It's a wonderful poem. Thanks for sharing it with us. You must be very proud.

[Jeff]

Congrats cool kid!!

[sher]

I love that poem. It's really incredible. Very nice looking book jacket too.

[Glenna]

Thanks y'all. It's really very special to me. I still can't believe they accepted it. It almost feels like a tribute to my brother who died years ago of cystic fibrosis, in a way.

[Claire]

WOW! I'm really impressed. I'm in medical school right now but am only an M2, so I haven't been on the floor yet enough to experience anything like this. This was such an artfully written poem. Thank you for sharing it.

[Glenna]

Claire--Thanks for the comment! And hang in there. You'll be to plenty of codes soon! LOL! Have they made you take ACLS yet? I'm signed up for next March. Then I really can be the dudette in charge of a code. My understanding is ACLS makes everyone feel more comfortable because it's all about running algorithms. I was recently the first RT in the room at a code (for the first time)and it amazed me how the training kicked in and I didn't think twice about anything, I just ran the algorithms and it worked.