Home > Work > Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years
1 " Why do we always think our pain will be less if we can make others suffer more? "
― Michael J. Collins , Hot Lights, Cold Steel: Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years
2 " It was the first time I had ever seen someone die, and it wasn't what I expected...I stood there waiting for something momentous to happen, for someone to say something profound, but there was nothing...I still had the childish notion that since my life was so important, all lives were so important. Since my death would be so cataclysmic, all deaths would be so cataclysmic. "
3 " At times it felt like I was killing myself. And yet the only thing I could recall at that moment was how much fun it had been, and how wonderful it was to do this for a living. "
4 " We were learning that all the training and all the caring in the world were not going to solve every problem. This wasn't medical school. We weren't going to ace every exam. Silver-haired professors weren't going to pat us on the head and marvel at our intellectual acumen. We weren't going to win every battle. "
5 " And of course she's sad about losing her leg, but she says it's made her realise how many things she hasn't lost...it's like a millionaire who loses a thousand dollars- he's sad, but he's still not that bad off. "
6 " How long have you two been married?” I asked her. “One month—today!” she answered with a little smile. “Well,” I said, “you have a bladder infection. In fact, this is a fairly common problem in newlyweds. It’s called honeymoon cystitis. It’s usually not serious. We’ll start some antibiotics tonight. You’ll need to get another urine test in a few days to be sure you’re responding to treatment.” “Why is it common in newlyweds?” she asked. “Well,” I said, “when a woman isn’t used to having sexual relations, sometimes a little infection can get into her bladder. "
7 " We fix things. Do you understand that? We don’t analyze things. We don’t discuss things. We don’t wring our hands and cry about things. We fix them! If somebody wants to be analyzed they can see a shrink. When they come to the Department of Orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic they want only one thing: they want to be fixed. “Now get the hell out of here and go fix things. And I better not get any more reports of touchy-wouchy, hand-holding sessions in this department. "
