Had to share...

This is a compelling article that I had to share.... It makes me want to go back and read some Dr. Seuss again!

In other news, the goal for my clinical rotation next week is to have 5 patients for whom I am primarily responsible; in other words, on their chart it will say that I am their physical therapist. Exciting! Things are moving along well, and I'm discovering how much I enjoy inpatient neuro rehabilitation.

It looks like I found an apartment for the [first] few months that I'll be down in North Carolina. Colin went to look at a sublet I discovered via Craigslist (I love the internet these days), and proclaimed it to be cleaner than his place--which I thought to be quite an impressive description! Apparently, my roommate-to-be is a very laid back graduate student of geology, who recently bought a motor bike. Hmmm... I'm sure we'll have tons in common...! Hey, you never know!! :)

Life in Massachusetts is getting cold; today the thermometer outside read -5 degrees when I went out to start my car at 7am. On my drive home in the evening, the bank sign read that it had become a balmy 5 degrees above zero! The kids I live with are, of course, predicting snow. Wishful thinking more than educated guessing, as far as I can tell. Nevertheless, my 5 year-old friend Hannah and I are going to have to bundle up to take our Saturday morning walk over to the library tomorrow!

Contemplative thoughts and subsequent actions over the past few weeks:

1. Purgatory is said to be suffering worse than any human suffering on earth--note, that means any human suffering, not just the worst suffering I have personally experienced.

2. I see plenty of people everyday who are dealing with agonizing pain; they try to describe their nerve pain to me, and it sounds terrible. "Like a toothache shooting directly down my arm..." "Like someone is piercing me with a long, stinging needle..." I sympathize with them, but I really cannot imagine or appreciate what they're going through.

3. Reading the "Saints of Today and Yesterday" out of Magnificat in the evenings, it is amazing to consider the martyrdoms that some of these holy people went through. Such physical pain! It's no wonder that a martyr's crown is said to merit heaven. The sufferings described are probably among the worst possible on earth.

4. I thank God for my health everyday; I think of and pray for the souls in Purgatory much more often; and while scrubbing my hands between seeing patients, I say two Hail Mary's... one for the patient I just saw, and one for the patient I am on my way to see.

Working in healthcare--as well as reading the lives of the saints--really helps me to appreciate my blessings.