an itinerant observer

I am an emergency physician, and dealing with life threatening emergencies such as sudden cardiac arrest is something I do daily. I am not a storyteller, but today I am going to tell you a story that changed my life and my attitude toward being an emergency physician altogether. It  is the story of my mother.... The full narrative was published by  Annals of Emergency Medicine  and may be viewed at   https://authors.elsevier.com/ a/1UDwsib7DumPQ [from   Narrative Medicine ] CREDITS : About the Author: Dr.  Mirza Noor Ali Baig completed his MBBS in 2006. Since January 2013 he has been an Instructor in the Dept. of Emergency Medicine at the Aga Khan University Hospital. His areas of interest include medical emergencies and timely resuscitation.  Acknowledgement: The full narrative was published by  Annals of Emergency Medicine  and is available to be viewed at   https://authors.elsevier.com/ a/1...

I am the parent. Scared and uninformed, I sit beside my sick child in the ER, hoping she will be okay. I am worried. Is this the last time that I get to spend with my daughter? Will our lives ever be the same? Or is this just something we will smile about years down the road. I don’t fully understand what’s wrong, and I cannot see far beyond the weakened state of my child. In this blooming, buzzing confusion of medicines, readings, numbers, and smells I sit powerless, with my whole life in the hands of a set of scrubs. But I cannot stay silent, so I look to the meticulous practitioner in front of me and ask “ Will my child be okay ?” I notice the doctor flinch and reassure me without eye contact. It’s imperfect reassurance, but this is all that matters to me right now. If the doctor says it will be fine, it will be. Why would he say it otherwise?  I do wish to have information; I do wish to know the state of the medical situation. I do wish to understand my child’s c...