Wow, another tough topic to write on! That's all our lives are, right? A multitude of moments? Hard to pick one, but I did.
I'm at work so that's what's on my mind and therefore what I will write about.
There are about 5 extremely common questions I get asked by my patients. Each day, just about. One of which is
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Why ultrasound? How did you get into this? How did you choose?
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It's the moment after being asked the question that I always, each and every time, feel such a wave of gratitude hit me. I am so incredibly lucky.
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I was somewhere between 15 and 16 and I remember specifically where I was and what I was doing when the pain hit. I was in my room working on a poster for a project that was due the next day. I was alone in the house, sitting on my bedroom floor with all my supplies sprawled around me. I bet it was around 2 in the afternoon. I went to reach for something on my dresser top and my lower abdomen hurt so bad I cried out. It was a sharp, stabbing feeling. It subsided momentarily and left a horrible ache. Minutes later it came back. Again and again it stuck with such force that I lay collapsed on the floor completely unable to function due to the pain. I didn't have a cell phone at the time (Ha! What a thought, these days, huh?!) and didn't even have a phone in my bedroom. My sisters room had a green phone but it was unpredictable and rarely worked properly. So I headed to the opposite end of the house. I couldn't even walk. I had to crawl, taking frequent breaks. You get the picture.
Eventually I made it to my mom's bedroom and to the phone where I called her at work and told her I thought I was dying and she needed to come take me to the hospital. I said I didn't even know if I could wait that long and we talked about an ambulance- also due to the fact that I couldn't walk and she couldn't carry me down the stairs, into the van etc. She raced home to get me and we did finally get me into the car. At this point we were thinking appendicitis or something. They got me into a room right away and one of the first things they did was take me down to the lower levels of the hospital for an ultrasound.
I remember the room perfectly. No windows, very dark. I was terrified and in pain- not just the pain I had been experiencing but on top of that I was made to drink so much I was about to explode. Anyway I remember the lady- she was a bit creepy actually-performing the U/S. She didn't say anything at all to me and I felt like I wouldn't even make it through the exam. Then, I guess we were done with the documenting portion because she suddenly said, would you like to see? I said yes and after showing me around a bit, took a still image of my abdominal parts. She showed me first what they really were and then, possibly assuming I was younger than I was, who knows, proceeded to 'name' my parts into different animals. lol no joke. Kind of like how you do with clouds. Anyway, she drew on the still image on the screen with labels like 'deer' and 'fox' and 'fish' and then printed it and gave it to me. To this day I wish I had that picture. I still hope to find it. But it was in that moment, with the strange lady, that I absolutely knew that U/S was what I was going to do for my career. It was the 'aha' moment. I feel so lucky because TONS of people never get to find what they like or what they're good at. And, miraculously, my career happened to be not only something that I love but something I have pride and ownership of.
And maybe even excel in.
My career has it's ups and downs but has always been able to provide for Brad and I. There were times during my schooling that I thought the book work was just too complicated and challenging for me to accomplish. For those moments I am grateful to my husband who encouraged me through the vast majority of my bachelor's degree. Without him I cannot be entirely certain I would have succeeded.
I am so lucky.
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