TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED

What is it about Friday that makes us all tired? Or makes me tired? It was 1:30 pm by my watch and had only been in theatre for slightly over 4 hours. I was helping the anaesthetist pack the instruments after our last scheduled case when the attending surgeon came in. Seemed like our day wasn’t done yet. The anaesthetist too was tired but he gets paid anyway and I don’t. Am a student though and need to maximise every opportunity to learn too… I had the option of leaving and going to have lunch and rest (am human too) or staying back to learn some more..…this never ending internal conflict, this duel loyalty idea, at times just takes a toll.

The patient was a 5-day old female neonate born with an imperforate anus-simply, the bottom end was closed. Sadly, this malformation doesn’t usually occur in isolation but is associated with heart, urinary, tracheal and oesophageal defects among others. Quickly, my thoughts were drawn to think of the little’s girl’s future outlook. Here I was in perfect health (I think) and before me was a helpless two and a half kilogram human being born with a malformation. Not by choice. I started to think of the many times I take things for granted. Am not the ideal student and neither am I a bad one. Fine, I skip class sometimes, go late most times and don’t always study as I should but I try.

Depending on the severity of the malformation, this little lad could live an entire lifetime with a surgically created opening on her stomach for the purposes of passing waste out. Think of the agony of always having a bag attached to her belly, changing the bags, the hours she would lose going for hospital reviews whilst her peers are in school. Talk about her self-esteem and social life…This would be too much for someone who had not chosen to be born that way. All things being equal, Zambia isn’t the best place for this little lad to be born in. And sadly from a poor family.

Regardless, this experience made me rethink some of my choices, occasional laissez faire approach to life and how I react to daily life experiences. Live simply and appreciate what you have because others don’t. More so, do not take life or health for granted; actively or passively.