In 2012 I had an incredible trauma case with one of my favorite veterinary technicians.
I do not like trauma cases. I am much too empathetic and in love with preventative care to appreciate how cool trauma really is. But after Trey and I had this patient diagnosed and stabilized, his pain well controlled and had established a better prognosis than we had originally feared and were working together to maintain anesthesia and literally put the poor thing back together, a strange calm settled in, and for the first time in my life I thought,
What if every case is a gift?
What kind of gift is a tiny, beautiful, broken and bloody bird?
What kind of Gift Giver gives such a gift?
What does it say about us as recipients that we return time and time again, hands and hearts wide open, to accept the next case?
What if every case is a gift?
I dunno. Maybe.
