Reader Response 1

(Below is an email sent to me by a thoughtful reader in response to a previous post)

"Sometimes it happens that you fuck up.

Sometimes it happens that they die, either because of or in spite of you.

Sometimes it happens that you can't save every one, or fix everything, or even make a single person feel much better.

Sometimes it happens that you have to give 'em bad news.

All you can do in those cases is remember that your white coat isn't a cage. It's not armor, either. It's a symbol of the fact that you're a human being who just happens to know more about some specific group of things than other human beings, and that you're muddling through doing the best you can with that knowledge.

So you have to take your own pulse first during a code. Big deal. You still know more about codes, presumably, than the person who's coding. Your simply being there helps. Muddle through if you have to, but remember that bit, okay?

Be easy on yourself, doc."

Sleep well. Jo

Thanks Jo, very well written.