"easing" back into work

there's no such thing as easing back into work after vacation. unlike most people's jobs, i do not return to hundreds of emails and telephone messages. thank god! there are no stacks of papers on my desk; hell, i don't have a desk! thankfully, there are no deadlines i am behind on. but there are sick patients lying in hospital beds - and some are the same sick folks i cared for three weeks ago!

sunday, my first day back to work (still struggling from jet-lag), i did not "ease" back into work; i dove in, head first. two of my three patients are my age - 31 and sick with cancer! the female is dying; her transplant has failed her and her weakened body is being overtaken with stupid infections, like yeast. the 31 year old man, husband and father of two, was just informed yesterday (while i was in the room with he and his entire family) that there is nothing more medicine can do for him, that perhaps he should pack his bags, return to alabama, and wait to die.

how's that for a reality check?!? life is not just about eating croissants in paris and roaming the canals of amsterdam and discovering hidden truths about your family heritage in prague. life is not always simple and amazing and full of discovery. sometimes life is unfair, painful, and plain old shitty! makes me appreciate the patisseries, van gogh's self-portraits, and the statues on the charles bridge that much more...

enjoying a chocolate crepe in place du tertre, on the way to sacre couer in paris!


some of the thousands of bicycles i could not ride in amsterdam (perhaps i should learn)


sitting on the charles bridge in prague over 70 years after my grandparents were there together...