My usual list was cancelled today and I was asked to do another list. There was only one patient on the list who needed a general anaesthetic. She was an inpatient, which meant that it was not going to be an easy case. When I got to the ward I found a huge set of notes waiting for me. Good news was that she had recently had a pretty long 4-5 hour procedure and got through it fine. Bad news was that she was Lithuanian and did not speak a word of English. There was no interpreter and using the language line to get any information was not easy. As I was going through the notes, one of the anaesthetic trainees approached me. She was rostered to be with me and guess what, she was from Lithuania. How lucky was that? I left her to see the lady and discuss the anaesthetic and went back to theatres.
My afternoon list was also cancelled and so I was asked to look at some notes instead, which was good for me as I could leave work on time for a change. However the best laid plans never work out do they? Dinesh was not feeling well and wanted someone to take over his list. ‘Man flu’ apparently. Men can never handle a bit of head cold can they, the poor things. Looking at his list I thought it was never going to finish on time, but then a voice in my head said ‘have a little faith, look at what happened this morning’. Just as the little voice predicted, the list finished on time.
As I got home early, I decided to go for a walk. Although the weather has turned colder than it was over the weekend, it was still a pleasant evening. On my way back I saw a lady taking photos of the cherry blossoms. As she looked down, her eyes caught mine. We smiled. There was no need for words. Both of us knew what the other person was thinking. It must be an age thing. She must have lived here all her life, but now she has time to stop and enjoy these little pleasures in life.
I felt lucky as I continued my walk. I just need to keep reminding myself those four little words now and then. Recently I read somewhere that I should just let the universe take its course. It’s done a good job so far, so why not let it continue the good work and ‘have a little faith’.
