I'm driving home last night. Post call. Well, post-call hours before. It had been a hectic night. Kids crumping. Adult admissions. A full ICU. I went home. Slept for an hour. Met up with a friend for lunch. Met up with another friend for dinner. And I'm stuck on this song which I listen to on repeat the entire way home. I don't know why I mention this trivial detail, but I've included song relevant songs during the past many months, and this one gets added to the list.
"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" by the Counting Crows:
well I woke up in mid afternoon cuz that's when it all hurts the most
dream I never know anyone at the party and I'm always the host
if dreams are like movies then memories are films about ghosts
you can never escape you can only move south down the coast
I am an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame
I am an acrobat swinging trapezes through circles of flame
if you've never stared off into the distance then your life is a shame
and though I'll never forget your face, sometimes I can't remember my name
hey Mrs.. potter don't cry
hey Mrs.. potter I know why
hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
well there's a piece of Maria in every song that I sing
and the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings
there is always one last light to turn out and one last bell to ring
and the last one out of the circus has to lock up everything
or the elephants will get out and forget to remember what you said
oh and the ghost of the tilt-a-whirl will linger inside of your head
and the ferris wheel junkies will spin there forever instead
when I see you, a blanket of stars covers me in my bed
hey Mrs.. potter don't go
hey Mrs.. potter I don't know
but hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
all the blue light reflections color my mind when I sleep
and the lovesick rejections that accompany the company I keep
all the razor perceptions that cut just a little too deep
hey I can bleed as well as anyone but I need someone to help me sleep
so I throw my hand to the air and it swims in the bees
it's just a brief interruption of the swirling dust sparkle jet stream
well I know I don't know you and you're probably not what you seem
oh but I'd sure like to find out so why don't you climb down off that movie screen
hey Mrs.. potter don't turn
hey Mrs.. potter I burn for you
hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
when the last king of Hollywood shatters his glass on the floor
and orders another well I wonder what he did that for
that's when I know that I have to get out cuz I've been there before
so I gave up my seat at the bar and I head for the door
we drove out to the desert just to lie down beneath this moat of stars
we stand up in the palace like it's the last of the great pioneer town bars
we shout out these songs against the clang of electric guitars
you can see a million miles tonight but you can't get very far (x2)
hey Mrs.. potter I won't touch
hey Mrs.. potter it's not much
hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
dream I never know anyone at the party and I'm always the host
if dreams are like movies then memories are films about ghosts
you can never escape you can only move south down the coast
I am an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame
I am an acrobat swinging trapezes through circles of flame
if you've never stared off into the distance then your life is a shame
and though I'll never forget your face, sometimes I can't remember my name
hey Mrs.. potter don't cry
hey Mrs.. potter I know why
hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
well there's a piece of Maria in every song that I sing
and the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings
there is always one last light to turn out and one last bell to ring
and the last one out of the circus has to lock up everything
or the elephants will get out and forget to remember what you said
oh and the ghost of the tilt-a-whirl will linger inside of your head
and the ferris wheel junkies will spin there forever instead
when I see you, a blanket of stars covers me in my bed
hey Mrs.. potter don't go
hey Mrs.. potter I don't know
but hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
all the blue light reflections color my mind when I sleep
and the lovesick rejections that accompany the company I keep
all the razor perceptions that cut just a little too deep
hey I can bleed as well as anyone but I need someone to help me sleep
so I throw my hand to the air and it swims in the bees
it's just a brief interruption of the swirling dust sparkle jet stream
well I know I don't know you and you're probably not what you seem
oh but I'd sure like to find out so why don't you climb down off that movie screen
hey Mrs.. potter don't turn
hey Mrs.. potter I burn for you
hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
when the last king of Hollywood shatters his glass on the floor
and orders another well I wonder what he did that for
that's when I know that I have to get out cuz I've been there before
so I gave up my seat at the bar and I head for the door
we drove out to the desert just to lie down beneath this moat of stars
we stand up in the palace like it's the last of the great pioneer town bars
we shout out these songs against the clang of electric guitars
you can see a million miles tonight but you can't get very far (x2)
hey Mrs.. potter I won't touch
hey Mrs.. potter it's not much
hey Mrs.. potter won't you talk to me?
As for the ICU...
Status quo. The ICU dramas which I see unfolding are, in some cases, no different than ICU dramas anywhere in the world. And then there are dramas which shouldn't be unfolding. Such as the kid who had a perforation in his bowel, and was delayed getting to a referral hospital for an excessively long time. He's not doing so well.
We do a hand-over round in the late afternoon. The night team has arrived, and then we tell them about the patients and things to do and follow-up. This is one of my new favorite acronyms. KATH
Keep
Alive
Til
Handover.
Handover.
Which, don't get me wrong, is implied for each patient.
This coming Saturday will mark the final 5 weeks here in South Africa. The theme for the last 5 weeks is Work Hard, Play Hard. Though right now it's been a bit lopsided...
B
