Emergency Hysterectomy

Allie, my little sister, is now 10 years old, but I'll never forget the night of her birth on Saturday, September 8th, 2007. I was just nine years old at the time, but that evening, I was first exposed to the power of medicine and deeply touched by the actions of healthcare professionals. Following the birth of my sister, my mom had a life-threatening bleeding condition and her life was hanging in the balance if actions were not taken immediately. Her doctors had diagnosed her with disseminated intravascular coagulation and she required an emergency hysterectomy to save her life. I was scared and felt powerless. My mom was in the operating room, fighting for her life, and there was nothing I could do. Numerous emotions flew through my head, …show more content…
Initially, I wanted to immediately impact people’s lives like the miraculous surgery that had saved my mom’s, but I found myself frustrated with filing paperwork, walking patients to rooms, and distributing pillows or snacks. It was not until I shadowed a physician that my perspective changed entirely and I discovered that medicine went beyond just treating a disease: it was relational. Dr. Seese knew his patients by name, without referring to a chart or his notes and whenever he greeted his patients, the exchanges resembled two good friends reuniting. When a woman came in with a recurring stroke, he did not just prescribe medications to treat her blood pressure, but spent time talking to her about barriers that impacted her health. Understanding her stressful circumstances, he offered counseling to help her cope and was there to listen and comfort her. Finally, I saw that medicine was completely patient-centered and that I could make a difference in someone’s day or life by doing something as simple as handing them an extra pillow or snack. Whether volunteering or shadowing, I whole-heartedly welcomed my role as I now understood the interactions with patients were more important than the tasks …show more content…
Serving as a Senior Health Educator for Peer Health Exchange (PHE), I educate CPS students on health topics such as decision making, the dangers of substance abuse, and how to access health resources. Through PHE, I have seen how barriers such as a lack of STI screenings, absence of parental control, and exposure to gun violence has affected the lives of many young people. As an educator, I use my platform to not only teach students, but to be available for them, assuring each one I am someone they can trust and confide in. While I cannot perform surgery or prescribe medication, PHE showed me there are many other ways to help others and develop influential