Witch Doctor to a Surgical Team
Beautiful young woman,
just lost both legs,
crushed, while standing,
between 2 cars,
stopped on the Major Deegan.
Team of plastic and reconstructive surgeons,
Same age as the patient.
Dare I say,
several of them
had come to love her.
They brought her,
to the OR,
again and again.
Over her weeks on the surgical service,
they remained in the hospital,
doggedly working day and night,
exhausted,
living on the ward,
trying to save her legs.
They’d lost the battle,
to save one leg.
And this morning,
as gangrene began to fester in the remaining leg,
the time had come to administer the final blow.
Prepping her,
for another trip to the OR,
to amputate the remaining leg,
They were beside themselves,
several doctors and nurses in tears.
They had done everything,
had nothing left to try,
as she passed into the realm of the uncurable.
Not knowing what to do,
The senior resident called,
Asking for a psych consult.
When he called,
he could not say why,
but I went up to the surgical floor.
I arrived,
was met with a scene,
nurses and doctors,
at the nurses’ station,
all milling about.
Brought up to speed,
By the head nurse,
I headed down the hall,
And entered her room.
Rather serenely,
She lay in bed.
I pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed,
and, as always,
asked her to tell me the story.
“I feel so bad for the doctors.
They worked so hard.”
Calmly, she told me,
they would be taking her back,
“They have to amputate my leg.”
I asked if there was anything I could do,
She said, “No,”
And thanked me for coming.
I asked, “Would it be alright,
If I came to see you tomorrow,”
And she nodded. “Yes, I would like that.”
I shook her hand and walked back
To the nurses’ station,
Crowd standing expectantly.
“She knows what’s going to happen,
And asked me to thank all of you.”
All the tension dissipated.
And leaving the floor, I knew.
I was a psychiatrist,
become a witch doctor,
and had reassured them,
that it was going to be all right.
By Charles E. Schwartz, MD
This poem reflects on a moment of profound medical and emotional crisis, where the patient’s acceptance becomes a source of comfort for the caregivers around her. Through the perspective of a psychiatrist called into an impossible situation, it reveals how presence, listening and human connection can bring reassurance when there is nothing left to cure.
