There but for the grace
Poetry by Jennifer Caputo-Seidler
It could have happened
You could have done well
weaned off your oxygen
and returned home to the family
whose love for you echos through the phone
But you didn’t survive.
You got so sick so fast
and within 24 hours of our meeting
you were gone
Why does one person recover and not another?
Is it luck?
Or fate?
Or faith?
Or force of will?
“We don’t believe it’s her time,”
your family told me
An hour later
your heart stopped
and as my team worked to revive you
I phoned your kids and told them you weren’t going to make it
“Let her go,” your daughter told me
How fast my heart beat
with your daughter’s cries in my ear
as your heart beat no more
You could have done well
weaned off your oxygen
and returned home to the family
whose love for you echos through the phone
But you didn’t survive.
You got so sick so fast
and within 24 hours of our meeting
you were gone
Why does one person recover and not another?
Is it luck?
Or fate?
Or faith?
Or force of will?
“We don’t believe it’s her time,”
your family told me
An hour later
your heart stopped
and as my team worked to revive you
I phoned your kids and told them you weren’t going to make it
“Let her go,” your daughter told me
How fast my heart beat
with your daughter’s cries in my ear
as your heart beat no more
About the Writer
Jennifer Caputo-Seidler is a physician, educator, and writer. She is passionate about bridging medicine and the humanities. She is part of the production team for the popular medical humanities Twitter chat MedHumChat. Follow her on Twitter @jennifermcaputo.