Lost in the Numbers
Don Stewart
December 3, 2010
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Donald Stewart
A nurse entered the operating room; her eyes–the only part of her face visible above her surgical mask–held a look of mild distress. She stood quietly until the surgeon noticed her.
“What is it?” he said.
“It’s your patient in 208, Doctor. His pressure is 82.”
“Systolic?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
The nurse was referring to Mr. Johnson. The previous week, we’d removed a small tumor from his lung without difficulty–and, until now, without complications. He’d been transferred out of Intensive Care to the main surgical floor, and that very morning we had removed the last drainage tubes from his chest. He was scheduled to go home the next day.
Now his blood pressure was plummeting.
“Doctor Stewart, break scrub and go see what’s going