Saturday, May 5, 2012

Reiki Pre-Op Assessment: Dealing with The Elephant in The O.R.

By the time I introduce myself to you in the Pre-Op Holding bay, I have formed some opinions about you, the surgery, and the best plan for anesthetic that will keep you safe. Sometimes, I get surprises. I do not let them show, when I see you. But I want to say that my busiest time of day, next to just having started the anesthetic, is while I am sizing you up.

To get the best data from you about your health risk to my proposed anesthetic plan, I will talk to you an put you at ease. My mind is working fast gathering the data as we talk. I will ask questions and examine you in order to fill out a mental 'check list' I have of all your body systems that encompass you from head to toe. I want to know past surgeries and most of all your perception of your anesthesia experience in the hopes of making a better experience for you in my care.

In many ways I am like a server in a restaurant. I am not the memory only type, I have to jot things down while I talk to you. I have so many different 'pictures' in my mind from all my patient-care combinations of health problems from all of my patients I have worked with, that I find writing them helps me reference later when I want to check things again.

Energetically, I am unconsciously scanning you and doing the same with Reiki. I am not 'healing you' or 'actively doing Reiki' at the time of meeting at your bedside. But I have intuition to guide me in my selection of anesthetic equipment and technique for you. And I go by that as much as I do my board-certified standard of anesthesia I have been trained to do. A smaller endotracheal tube here for a singer, in order to spare the vocal cords. And extra scope in the room for the morbidly obese. A dose of benadryl antihistamine in the case for you because you have so many allergies to medicines that even though I plan to avoid those triggers, I want to be sure the likelihood of other drugs 'setting you off' is low. If you are on steroids such as prednisone, I give you an extra dose to help you through the stress of surgery for your stress response is a little flat due to your medicine your are taking.

I come from a place of non-judgement. I critically think within the medical specialty I have. But your size, religion, sexual preference, social standing, and the rest do not affect me at all in what I actually do. Only how I interact with you to make you comfortable prior to your surgery.

This non-judgement is theraputic. It heals by allowing you to relax, and take you time to gather yourself together to face this enormous challenge it will take for you to 'get well', to 'fix your surgical problem' and in order for me to be 'there for you' I have to make sure first that 'you are in the picture' as partner to the healing process. Be it metaphysical, physical, or mental. My goal is to make a 'spark' so you will find your bearings and be on your True Path aside from this surgery one.

That is why I talk to you. That is why I send you Reiki when I am close by. That is why I formally give you Deeksha, Reiki, Karuna Reiki (TM), and Divine Peace Healing when I have the time (your case runs longer than the time it takes to do the bare necessities of charting and administering anesthesia to you).

My goal is to take your apprehension about surgery. squash it by pure loving energy, and let Light take the place of your fear. Together we can move mountains.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc