I am running the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2014. I am running to support the Emergency Fund at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital which was created to support both immediate and longer-term mental and physical needs of patients, family and caretakers impacted by life-altering events. Please read my story below and consider a donation. I can’t thank you enough!
Running a MARATHON? WHAT? WHY? Yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking too. . .but here goes nothing. . . I’m sure there are so many similar stories out there, but I think sharing mine will at least help me start to process the tragic events of Boston 2013. I am an RN in the PACU (recovery room, for those non medical peeps reading this!!) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and I am a Bostonian. Those are 3 things that I have always been very proud of in my life, but never, ever have I been prouder than during and after the events of last year’s Marathon. I was working in the PACU the day of the Marathon, you know, Patriots Day, a HOLIDAY in this city; the hospital was quiet, not too many scheduled O.R. cases, minimal staff scheduled and when my shift started our biggest concerns were when we were taking lunch and whether or not we should make a Starbucks run or not. Little did we know how quickly that would change. (Isn’t it “funny” how life always gets you like that?) Shortly, we would be calling home, trying to get in touch with our loved ones, texting frantically to make sure our colleagues & friends who were running and spectating were safe and sound, trying to maintain composure while also trying to figure out from a professional standpoint what exactly we needed to be prepared for. I feel like this is one big run on sentence, but that’s what it was like, everything was happening so fast, but so slow at the same time. Hopefully all of you you grammar experts out there can forgive me! Anyways, I am not sure I have ever been more terrified in my life. I wanted to run out of the unit and get home to my babies and my mom and my husband, but then I stopped, realized my babies and family were safe and knew I was right where I needed to be. Beth Israel Deaconess has been like a second home to me since 2002 when I took my first job as a new nurse. I started out working on the surgical floor that took care of all the trauma patients, moved into the Trauma intensive care unit for 8+years and currently work in the PACU. Trauma and surgery is what I know and what I love and on that day, I was right where I needed to be. Even with as many trauma patients that I have cared for and prepared for over the years, this felt different, so different. We had no idea what to expect, we were terrified for patients, friends, family, our city, but yet, we did what we do best. We prepared bags of IV fluid and tried to eat something so we would have something in our stomachs when the inevitable came through the doors. BIDMC is only a little more than a mile from the marathon finish line, we knew patients would be coming, assuming there were survivors. And so they did, one by one they rolled through the door, most with awful shrapnel injuries to their legs, fortunately covered by dressings by the time they came to me. . .I can only imagine what the ER and OR staff saw. The more gravely injured patients with traumatic amputations went straight to my old unit the TSICU and I prayed for my friends there, to give them strength to get through their shift and do what I know they do so very well - save lives. I distinctly remember the look on each and every patient’s face, they all rolled out of the OR into recovery looking like deer in headlights. Their eyes, I will never, ever forget their eyes. They all looked horrified, in disbelief that they were truly living this nightmare. I’m not often a person at a loss for words, but April 15, 2013, I had no idea what to say. I didn’t have words to comfort myself, my friends or my family, how could I comfort these complete strangers. The day continued and rumors flew around the hospital, as they often do, about the ER being locked down, about a suspicious package found, about another bomb, about suspects etc, the law enforcement began to arrive to question patients, patients who hadn’t even been able to call their families to say they were alive because their phones were all taken as evidence (which at the time seemed cruel, but in the end was what helped to find the suspects). My colleauges and I made it through our shift, when we were relieved by others, all of us still in disbelief, would we go home to our loved ones and watch the news, the coverage seemed never ending, only to return back to the hospital a day or few days later to relive the nightmare. The days,weeks and months have continued on and I’m not sure I have ever really processed all that went on. I feel so lucky to have been picked to run this year’s marathon for the BIDMC team. My inspiration to run this year comes from nearly a year of thinking, internalizing and trying to comprehend what happened in April. As I’ve realized recently during my training runs, I have a lot of pent up emotion that has helped me get through some of the tougher runs I’ve done. I just keep saying to myself, this is easy compared to what some of the survivors have been through in the last year. Running for the BIDMC seems like the perfect way to show how truly proud I am of my profession, my colleagues, my hospital and my city. I felt inspired to run this year and thought it would be the perfect way to show my Boston & BIDMC Pride. What is better than to getting out there, raising some money and running the very race that the bombing suspects tried to take away from us only a few short months ago. The survivors were and are amazing. I have never been so inspired by patients, patients that never gave up hope, that truly believed in BOSTON STRONG and who knew they would persevere, even on their worst days. I am honored to have been picked to run and fundraise for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Emergency Relief Fund. What better way to give back than to help the survivors and my colleauges who have done so much to help! I know that the hope and determination of the patients I cared for will carry me over that finish line. So I guess that's "why?" I'm running. I know most of you get it if you're reading this, either you were there, you knew someone who was there, you're a lover of Boston or the Marathon, maybe you even love a nurse or doctor who could someday be in the same position myself and my co-workers all over the city were in, or maybe you are just trying to find a way to help yourself heal. Whatever your reason, I can't thank you enough, even for just reading this and thinking about donating. I could likely write a novel on my thoughts and feelings after that day, but I hope that I have done enough to express my passion and hopefulness for this year’s race. Please consider a donation, no amount is too small.
Supporters
Yankee fan believing In boston Strong
To support my courageous sister-in-law Betsy who runs for those who can't & in support of BIMC employees who help make Boston Strong
michelle S
Fellow BIDMC RN! Good luck!
Good luck Betsy!!!