A Gentle Monday

A thankfully gentle Monday greeted the opening of my week. A morning work-out, a patient hospital visit, some clinic visits, and lots of desk-oriented work and calls. Today was a day when the work I do made sense:

-I spoke with a doctor about a patient who needs better diabetic care. We came up with a plan and I called the VNA to initiate the change.

-I visited a patient in the hospital, wrote a note in her chart, and later received a call from the hospital physician about the discharge plans.

-Later I sat in on a visit one of my patients had with his primary doctor. A great deal of useful information was exchanged and now I can follow up.

-Another patient didn't show for his appointment with his doc. I checked the computer and saw that he'd been in the ER. I printed out the notes and labs and will discuss them with his primary and initiate timely follow-up.

Just for a day, everything made sense and I could just do my work.

My colleague, meanwhile, was struggling with a patient who has a not-quite-broken arm which needs orthopedic attention. Unfortunately, none of the local ortho docs want to see a Medicaid patient if the patient's arm isn't actually fractured, so the patient languishes in pain. Another patient needs emergency oral surgery but no oral surgeons in the area accept Medicaid. We can load her up on narcotics but she needs surgery. What to do? Luckily, this was not my battle to wage today, but there for the grace of God go I......

Coming home, the dogs wag their greeting and we head to town for a book-reading at the local dog-friendly collective bookstore (see link to Food for Thought Books). The reading was cancelled, but we hung out with the friendly bookstore workers, the dogs soaking up the proffered love. We then wandered through the sunlit town, eating cookies and looking at flowers. The dogs only seemed interested in flowers that other dogs had peed on. What's up with that?

I give thanks tonight for a gentle day, a lifted depression, the peepers making their nightly appearance in the nearby swamps, and the knowledge that my love is on her way home.

May your days be gentle, fair Reader.