Codes

As we were speaking with Dr. Young this morning there was a Code Blue called for the 5th floor of JRB. As some of you may remember hearing codes in JRB is quite disturbing for me.
Here is what I wrote about it last time Scott was here.

A patient on our floor died today. This doesn't happen often at all in rehab. In fact it only happens 2 or 3 times a year. The patient is usually moved out before he/she passes. But today things happened to quickly.

I got used to hearing "codes" be called in SICU. But for some reason seeing/hearing one at Bowman is so different. I guess in my head everyone there is closer to home than they are to death. Maybe that isn't as true as I would like to believe.
The man that passed was only in his mid 30's and he had a 2 or 3 year old little girl. Kate and his daughter "played" together on Sunday.

I think the hardest part might have been seeing his wife step off the elevator. I had just overheard that nobody had been able to reach her via phone yet and there she appeared.
Steeping off the elevator, not a care in the world, strolled past the front desk, smiling at the clerk and me, walking past a few of the doctors that had just tried to save her husband - not knowing who they were or why they were there and then wham she stops just outside his door. A doctor finally realizes who she is and steps in front of her. The agony in her face and voice resonate in my ears. She screams and pushes past the doctors and rushes into her husbands room. I can't see what's happening from there but the entire floor can hear her screams and crying. We hear it through closed doors, we hear it over Robin Roberts and Bill Weir on Good Morning America, we hear it over Scott's electric razor as he gets ready for his 9am PT.
I see this woman later in the day. She's standing downstairs waiting for her ride, clutching her baby girl, she's covered in her husbands blood, a family member says "please just go put this shirt on". She turns away and says "all I have left of him is on this shirt and in my arms. I'm not letting go."
Kate, in her stoller, and I push past her. We're brining lunch back for Scott. I'm so very grateful that I get to bring another lunch to Scott. All the times those doctors did everything for Scott. All the same things that they did for that man today. It worked for Scott every time. Everytime I was blessed with one more day with my husband. Kate gets another chance to know who her daddy is.

One more day, one more wonderful glorious day for us and no more days for this other family.


Praying for the best possible outcome for the patient on 5.

It's starting off to be a craptastic Monday. Hoping it ends with some great PT and OT and some good news from my Grandma about the very complicated spinal surgery they are doing on her husband this morning.

Come on Monday .... I have faith in you....Don't suck.