Life uncommon

I am a nurse. I say that to remind myself that my life is not as boring as I often think it is. I have enjoyed lately reading blogs posted by friends, acquaintances, and strangers. Most of them are in the middle of some really exciting and entertaining times in their lives. Whether it's raising children or embarking on the task of reshaping their minds or bodies, everyone seems to have incredible everyday experiences that are amazingly anti-mundane. I tend to get bogged down in the mire of the day to day sluggishness of my life. I want one of the lives I read online.

God gave me this week and all it's challenges to prove that my life has some pretty cool moments too. Every moment was filled with something to monitor or a new task to perform...some fire to put out. I had one patient who's life depended my management of 9 IV drips and 3 machines. Another patient stopped breathing unexpectedly and needed to be intubated while another patient became so disoriented that he pulled out his breathing tube. I had one patient only a few years older than myself with a heart anomaly so rare his doctor had never seen someone with his condition alive. We had several patients come and go having had their "broken hearts" fixed.

There is one patient that stands out in my mind more than the others I took care of this week. He is a fairly young man, in his fifties, with the heart function of a 90-year-old. He seems to be the type of man who had to fight through every moment of his life and he wasn't giving up now. We had taken care of him many times before. This admission was not unlike the others. His heart was failing him. He was having trouble breathing and this time the medicines weren't working but he wanted us to pull out all the stops to save his life. We all knew that death was eminent if we didn't.

I've seen people fight for their lives a lot. However their motivations can be very different. I've seen people fight to stay alive for their children, or grandchildren. I've seen them simply want to prove an arrogant doctor wrong. I have seen them so in love with love with life or their spouses that they simply can't imagine being without them. I've seen others fight because they are scared... scared that there isn't anything beyond this life, scared they haven't finished their "business" here, scared that they weren't faithful enough, or scared because they don't know what they believe. I think that's where my patient was. I don't want to assume anything but his demeanor seemed fearful and angry. His spirit seemed unable to be quieted. He eventually became unresponsive and required a machine to breathe for him as well as medicines to increase his heart function and maintain a blood pressure. But soon our efforts began to exhaust themselves and his vitals began to fade. We brought his mother in to be by his side. Even while sedated he fought the breathing tube indicating his mind and spirit were still present. His mother couldn't comfort him enough and in her desparation to soothe her son as he died, she asked us to recite Psalm 23. Most of us, even though this scripture is committed to memory, couldn't utter the words. Our tears choked us into silence. I kept my eyes on him as she prayed to Our Lord to help comfort her boy. As soon as she finished, as if it were exactly what he needed, he relaxed enough and stopped fighting. I watched as the words inspired by the Lord's grace, were enough to quiet a fighting spirit, enough to fill a searching heart. Those words were enough to usher someone into a peaceful death. I witnessed a beautiful miracle. I stood in the presence of God on an ordinary day at work. How many people get to say that? My only problem is that I don't notice it enough. I complain a lot about being tired or unappreciated or mundane. Shame on me! God blesses my life with the most incredible moments where I stand face to face with Him in the most raw form. My life is indeed a life uncommon... for that I feel truly blessed.