High Risk Surgery
I was a scrub nurse. My job was to assist the surgeon during surgeries. I was preparing an elderly patient for a pretty high-risk surgery. There was a good chance he was going to be fine, but there was also a decent chance things were going to go south and he knew that.
While the CRNA was doing her thing, getting the anesthesia ready, I was standing next to the patient going over his chart and the signed releases. Then, he said to me, “I need you to tell my wife I’m sorry for all the times I raised my voice at her. There weren’t many times.
But right now I wish there weren’t any”. That was the first time I ever got choked up at the bedside. I so badly wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay but no one knew if it was going to be.
So, I said back to him, “I’ll do anything you need me to, but right now let’s think about some happy memories before you go under”. I asked him to tell me about his and his wife’s first date. Once he was under, I excused myself before scrubbing in to stop myself from crying. Story credit: Reddit / hey_now111