TARANJEET AHUJA
The Night Shift
84
I am in the Coronary Care Unit with a catheter in my neck. I am not sure I even need it. I am nauseated and my stomach hurts. They keep using the words shock liver. I wonder what that means? I just want to know when I can go home. Am I getting better? Am I out of the woods? I have to stay strong for my wife, my daughters and my grandchildren. The doctors are here. They are doing their evening rounds. I don’t recognize the night team, but I have seen the cardiology fellow, who is now talking. He tells the team the plan for overnight. I hear him say, “… and if he crashes overnight…” Crashes overnight? What does that even mean? I thought I was getting better. I don’t understand. I thought I was going home in a few days. One of my daughters is getting married in two months. I must get better. Why is he telling them that? I don’t know. I think I am okay. I know I am okay. But am I really okay? Taranjeet Ahuja, DO, is an assistant professor of science education and pediatrics. She is a pediatrician and full-time faculty member at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine as well as the director of the Initial Clinical Experience (ICE) and Advanced Clinical Experience (ACE) Continuity Clinic Programs. Her father was hospitalized in the CCU in 2015, and he overheard the team talking about him during their nightly rounds.She imagined that these were her dad’s thoughts and wrote this reflection in his voice.
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