Med-surg

Today was a clinical day. Right now I'm in my first med-surg rotation. The floor I'm stationed on is 6 North, which is a progressive cardiac floor. The patients almost all have heart issues, including heart failure, but also present with MMPs (med speak for multiple medical problems).

The lessons of this rotation are many, but primarily the point being driven home lately is that the vast majority of illness is self induced. One key word that you hear alot on this floor is "comorbidity". When an organ or  body system such as your heart/ cardiovascular system goes south, it is often (not always, but often) a result of neglect. The neglect that ruins your heart, lack of exercise or poor diet, almost always takes its toll on other systems as well. Hence, congestive heart failure often presents with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, renal insufficiency and so on.

Now as part of my nature, I am continually drawing parallels...looking for analogies. Nursing has offered me so many oportunities to indulge this habit (my poor wife and family). But don't worry, I'm not gonna stop any time soon. So here goes...a little pathophys lesson straight into a sermon from Rob Bell.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) stresses the heart. The heart is forced to pump against more pressure in the system which wears out the muscle (congestive heart failure). The damaged heart muscle is unable to adequately pump blood (and the oxygen it carries) to the rest of of the organs. The lungs retain fluid, the kidneys fail and so on. Okay, okay...so here is the amazing analogy: WE ARE INTEGRATED BEINGS! (Insert the sound of crickets chirping here).
Ahem...I said, WE ARE INTEGRATED BEINGS!....(still no response).
Okay, so this may not be a revolutionary new idea, but the point is that just like our organs, every area of our lives is interconnected. When we neglect the physical, the emotional suffers. Decide to experiment with sin in one little area of your life and you might just physically suffer. Don't get enough sleep and pay the price at work. I can go on, but you get the point.

In the interest of keeping this post managable I am not going to fully explore this concept, but I am going to close with some related questions. Things that I wonder about: Can you choose to not take care of your body but still call yourself a good christian? Seriously, why are there so many fat televangelists?! I know that the body needs the soul, but doesn't it then stand to reason that our soul needs its body? Rob Bell has a whole sermon on how heaven won't be made right until all the bodies can join the souls...weird and cool concept. Anyway, just stuff I'm thinking about. This body needs its rest...Good night.