What Real Problems Are....

Its been awhile. My blogging has slowed to a miserable crawl. It seems that with all the things I need to do in a day, writing down my thoughts has been the last thing I can think of.

I've always known that I've been fortunate in my life. We all have setbacks. We all have stresses, frustrations, and difficulties that we face day to day. Bundle all of these SFDs (I make acronyms for everything) together, and a person could feel hopeless, at times even depressed.

But at what point does a stressor, a disagreement, or an annoyance constitute a real and tangible problem? It can't realy be defined by drawing a line in the sand - its all relative.

I've been sheletered for the past 2 years, having a great time in the lab, going home to see my wife everynight, being able to make plans ahead of time, and all in all enjoying my hobbies. I admit it, I took it for granted. So much so, that I actually started to mistakenly think that some of my frustrations were real problems. They weren't.

I look around at my friends, and while I understand their thoughts, I also think that they take their life for granted. We stress about our finances, our impending purchases, our time for ourselves, what clothes we can buy, etc. Everyone thinks they don't do it, but some of us do it to some degree. You don't need to be materialistic to covet. Coveting can lead to anxiety and anxiety is the father of stress. Wrong or right, we've all done it.

Which brings me to the present. I started back into my clinical training on June 25th. As I imagined it was a shock to be back in the hospital, working more than 80 hours a week, running around constantly (I never sit), making life or death decisions (already have pronounced two patients after emergent treatments), and eating only a granola bar all day (which starts at 530am and ends at 8pm).

But the greatest and most beneficial realization that has befallen me has been that I have no real problems. 99% of my friends have not had real problems. We all are lucky to some degree.

Problems are not...
What car I need to buy next...
What modifications I need to think about on my car...
How fat I am...
What treats I need to buy for my dog...
Where I should go for vacation...
How I forgot my pin numbers...
How I didn't get time to watch TV tonight...
How I can't eat french fries everyday...

And it goes on and on and on.....
And one more thing... any frustration that is a direct result of a person's lack of motivation, lack of responsibility, lack of common sense, or lack of morals - is NOT a problem. That's just your own damn fault.

Problems are....

The daughter who's father, brother, and mother were all killed in a car accident has real problems.
The mother who's son abuses crack and heroine and steals her money everyday that she needs for medications... has real problems.
The father who, in spite of his best efforts, couldn't lure his son away from the gangs and prevent his death... has real problems.
The surgery resident who, in the process of performing an emergent (unlikely to work ED thoracotomy) procedure at 4am, accidently cuts her/himself with a scalpel tainted with HIV positive blood... has real problems.

The list goes on and on. And this is just over 24 hours on call.



I thought I had problems. I don't. I'm coming to realize that I'm one lucky bastard. Working at a county hospital does this to you. Wonderful wife, great home, supportive family, best friends, a fulfilling (read challenging) career... I'm just sorry I took it for granted. And I wish more than anything I could help better those who do have real problems. I guess that's why I do what I do.