I was in my old ward today, Ward 18.
I've known for a few weeks that S was "adopted" by family, not his parents who never came to collect him. But I found myself walking through the ward looking for familiar faces. If he wasn't there, was K there? Or O? None of the regulars were there. The nurses were very happy to see me, which is always a nice feeling. And they asked when I would be back on Ward 18.
"Please come back."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously!"
"But Sis, seriously, didn't you find me to abrupt?"
"Eish Doctor Brian, we got use to you," she laughs, and gives me a big hug.
I grin.
She insists they enjoyed working with me.
I will miss ward 18. And I promised that I'd go back and visit through the spring.
I booked my return flight home last night. Found a killer fare, and decided to jump on it. And all of a sudden my time here seems soooo short. There is now this sense of finality to this year. "This Year Off" has been more of an abstract than something concrete. I don't know how to explain it all that well, but up until this past week I was feeling like I would be here forever. I'm always conscious that I have to be back to my home hospital on July 1, but that seemed soooo far away. But now, it seems so close. As I hit the button to pay for the ticket last night, I kept trying to think what that day will be like. I can see the send off here, the sadness at leaving the close friends I've made thus far, but also the excitement to see my dear friends back home.
But it also brought a new perspective. A little Carpe Diem to the experience. To really enjoy the present moments while I'm here, and to maximize my experiences as well.
So I explained to the sisters, that sadly, I won't be working in Ward 18 again. It'll be off to medicine with the start of the new year, and then it'll be back home...
ps- "eish" is an expression, kind of sounds like A-ish, or hay-shhh. It's a word I've really taken to, mainly because it's helping me erase the "F word" from my vocabulary. As most would know, it's a word I'm kind of fond of...
