surgical miracle

on friday morning early i was between emergency consults when i finally got up to the neonatal ICU to see a 6 month old former 25 week premie who was billed as a non-urgent consult for abd distention. she looked sick, febrile, and tachycardic and had a bowel obstruction on xray. we posted her for the OR and found an adhesion from a prior surgery caused a small bowel malrotation. we fixed it and didn't have to resect any bowel thank goodness and the baby started looking much better and more stable. the circulating nurse asked my attending what the name of the procedure that we performed and he said, just put down "surgical miracle."

he was totally joking, and he didn't say it in an egotistical way or anything. he went on to say some good things about how we got the baby to surgery and said some good things about me. the whole time i kept thinking how crazy it to say those things was because i always second guess myself five-hundred times when i say it's time to take a patient to the OR. i wish i could be more decisive about these things which i suppose will come with time.