Grand Rounds.
Once upon times, in a land filled with meds,
Lived a blogger who slept with a cat on her head.
As she dreamt through the night, dreams with colors and sounds,
She dreamt of the honor of hosting Grand Rounds.
“Emotions in healthcare,” she tossed off the covers.
“Where bloggers use blogs to comfort each other.”
Her eyes, they sprang open. “The patient prevails!”
And she scurried off quickly to check her emails.
The screen buzzed to life and she saw, to her pleasure,
Grand Rounds submissions, too many to measure.
The bloggers who write about diabetes emotions
Get more than their share of her love and devotion.
Like the comfort and chaos of a sharing their gripes
Or one whose emotions were raw and too ripe.
A post from the blogger at “Sweetness Within,”
About diabetes and its mental spin.
And the body providing a comfortable home,
Talks about the frustration of feeling alone.
But submissions are not just from d-blogs, my dears!
They come from all corners of med blogospheres.
The one about Ashley from dear Dr. A,
Who asks how a parent can keep her that way.
Dream Mom has her own strong opinions to tell
With an issue-by-issue perspective as well.
The strength of a man, unaware of his AIDS,
Who went to a concert and seized the next day.
Or the stories of wounds that cut deep and are gory,
But end up as scars that stand proof of the story.
The sadness of doctors and their daily sessions
As they dive to great depths in the seas of depression.
The tale of a woman whose journey is far
As she’s told she has cancer while in the ER.
An Outsider finds her way back by her choice
To share in the power of one common voice.
The test of a man who had seen two great wars,
Who counted the bullet holes ripped in the doors.
A med student marvels at words that they choose
When doctors are forced to give patients bad news.
Submissions keep coming! She rubs at her eyes.
The cats are like sharks, rubbing up on her thighs.
“Hush, kitties – I’m reading!” she says as she finds
More posts about healthcare – the emotional kind.
She finds posts about storms that flush families away
And patients with feelings all tangled and frayed.
Still others write posts on the power of pets
And the souls that may fly out with finches just yet.
One blogger puts spin on the crash of a plane
And wonders how hospital deaths are the same.
A voice from the wards speaks of hospital care
And the challenges doctors and patients face there.
Another asks questions on health insurance scurrying,
Which causes young mothers to spend their time worrying.
Or the rare gift of kindness from a stranger indeed,
May have just saved the life of a woman in need.
“These writers are brilliant,” she says without sound
As she clicks on the “save” and reviews her Grand Rounds.
With the twenty best posts that have touched upon “real,”
Moving past medications into how patients feel.
With a nod to her cat and a smile of glee,
Your host posted her Rounds up on Six Until Me.
Now ready your pens for the next Grand Rounds shout
Which will ring from the rooftops of Dr. Signout.
Comments
Super duper job! Very creative. Must have taken a lot of work. Thanks for including my post. I really appreciate it. Great job, Kerri!
Posted by: Doctor Anonymous | January 16, 2007 08:38 AM
Well, I think you have defintely raised the bar with regards to the format! Great job! Loved it!
Posted by: Dream Mom | January 16, 2007 08:40 AM
Wow, an interesting grandrounds.Interesting!
Posted by: George | January 16, 2007 08:49 AM
Great job--really like the format! Thanks for including my post!
Posted by: Laurie | January 16, 2007 09:28 AM
Whoa! First of all, that is a fantastic photo to accompany the post! Very creative and I LOVE your cat!
Second of all, that was a great poem - you managed to get the gist of each post into a very lyrical poem that reads "like buttah"!
Great job all the way around, and thank you for including Emergiblog!
Posted by: Kim | January 16, 2007 09:58 AM
So enjoyable.
And TOTALLY cute!
Posted by: Deb | January 16, 2007 10:04 AM
What a great Grand Rounds! Some really amazing bloggers have been included this week that I haven't come across before... time to update my blogroll!
Great job!
Posted by: drcouz | January 16, 2007 10:34 AM
Great poem--and thanks for including me!
Posted by: Lyrehca | January 16, 2007 11:07 AM
Thanks for the (belated) mention. I saw this post before I left for work and was wonderin' about it ;).
And great format and inclusion of Siah!
Posted by: Rachel | January 16, 2007 11:55 AM
very nice meter and rhyme! thanks for a job very well done.
Posted by: drcharles | January 16, 2007 12:27 PM
Awesome job...
Must have taken a lot of time and effort....
Posted by: Indian Medic | January 16, 2007 12:47 PM
Awesome post! Very fun to read.
Thanks for including my post :-)
Posted by: Erica | January 16, 2007 01:03 PM
Wow, reading that poem was so much fun! You did an amazing job of putting this together--I'm sure it wasn't easy. More for me to read now, whew! Thanks for the inclusion.
Posted by: patientanonymous | January 16, 2007 01:27 PM
Wow, Kerri, I'm very impressed with the poetic composition of Grand Rounds. You must have put some effort in, huh? It's wicked. Kudos to you.
Posted by: tscd | January 16, 2007 03:33 PM
Dr. Seuss is rolling over in his grave. Not from disapproval, though. He wants to come shake your hand! (Theodore Suess Geisel -- "Dr. Seuss" -- was actually a lifelong smoker who succumbed to throat cancer.)
Well done!!
Posted by: #1 Dinosaur | January 16, 2007 04:33 PM
Can you rock any harder? You amaze me Kerri! Great GREAT post!
Posted by: George | January 16, 2007 04:47 PM
Beautifully done, love the lyrical format.
Posted by: DrDork | January 16, 2007 05:02 PM
Hey Kerri,
Kickin' job! Didn't I always say you were the most poetic of us all?
Thanks for the good stuff.
Posted by: AmyT | January 16, 2007 06:59 PM
Wow, that's quite a poem! I'm truly awed.
Thanks for including my post!
Posted by: Jenn | January 16, 2007 07:13 PM
Kerri, congratulations (and thanks for including my post) - fabulous job!
Posted by: Emily | January 16, 2007 08:00 PM
Amazed by your writing as usual. What a talent. I must admit that I often envy your talent! Keep it up.
Posted by: Fred | January 16, 2007 09:26 PM
Oh and check out the picture of my cat Casey. He and Siah could be related! Does she like licking plastic bags too?
Posted by: Fred | January 16, 2007 09:27 PM
Kerri, What a great post! Beautiful.
Also, yes, please feel free to add my blog link to your site. I would be flattered.
Posted by: Cecily | January 17, 2007 09:23 AM
great poem, loved it...
Posted by: sumer sethi | January 18, 2007 06:35 AM
When I first stumbled into this post all of rhyme,
I worried that it would be only lost time.
As I read through the links
my fears all were eased,
And I finished the list feeling well pleased.
So, Six Until Me, here are kudos for you:
Grand Rounds were fantastic -- really and true!
(found you by way of Dr. A and his link to Grand Rounds...I'll be back!)
A
Posted by: Artemis | January 18, 2007 05:21 PM
Grand Rounds like this are why I keep coming back week after week. Thanks.
Posted by: Flightfire | January 19, 2007 01:09 PM