Sherry Jones Mayo - Confessions of a Trauma Junkie: My Life as a Nurse Paramedic

If we accept the premise that each of us is a special creation placed on Earth to perform as well as our design would enable us, I believe there is an individual choice whether or not to act upon inherent capabilities and gifts. In this case and in this book, this reference points to the healer within. As such, I believe that all the secrets held since the beginnings of time are for each of us to explore. No special dispensation is necessary; we are given access to it all and the capability to understand and take action, we are granted permission to enter into a world of limitless possibility. We truly choose our own adventure.

Sometimes the search for (and development of) talents takes one on diverse paths of self-discovery. I hold in memory a crystal image of my own day of realization, etched with full-spectrum coloration, when the dark curtain of ignorance fell away and the door to where answers are found was flung open before me. That moment prompted exploration into the mind/body connection where psychology and medicine merge. Im still wading in that pool, taking it all in and learning as I go along. While I learn, I laugh a lot because lunacy abounds and I cry sometimes because humanity suffers so much pain. In that place between lunacy and sorrow, I grab a home-made water pistol (30cc syringe with a 22-gauge plastic IV catheter), and take aim.

This book is a peek into the world of EMS and ER folks from those who do those jobs daily. It is comprised of essays and quotesall true though sometimes compiledfrom EMTs and RNs around the country (names and some details occasionally changed to protect the guilty). This is your opportunity to share in the pain and laughter (not just the patients, but our own) while we go through life trying to keep from succumbing to whatever evil presents itself. We fight the enemy (death) with everything we have and try to keep a sense of humor while doing it. There are many more stories to be told this is just a handful of them written by a Paramedic RN who has worked rural, country and city EMS as well as an urban trauma center since 1989 and continues to play in the ER pond today. That said, please dont take offensesome of the items shared are less than politically correct, but that is to be expected when stories are relayed between those who do this work. Walk a mile in our shoes and well talk about what truly offends. Walk two miles and youll have stories of your own and a greater understanding of the sights, smells and experiences of those who expertly do what nobody should ever have to do.

How we have (in medicine) separated the mind from the body baffles me. We know that our cells have an innate intelligence and somehow group with other cells that hold a common desire to sustain growth and continue life; similar cells combine to develop tissues, related tissues become organs, systems form and the infinitely small parts together become a functional whole. Our bodies are composed of energy and information; there is intelligence in each of the cells as there is intelligence in the organism (human being), directing and guiding toward the collective good and development of the entity.

By the end of one year, 98% of the bodys atoms are exchanged for new ones, which is a built-in mechanism for change, renewal and regeneration. Unifying the body and mind toward positive and forward growth is sometimes a challenge when either stumbles over pebbles (or boulders) in their paths; balance is interrupted and intervention is necessary (from internal or external sources) to recover physical and mental homeostasis. What we dont know is what happens in that moment between thoughts, the moment between desiring and directing a physical action and its ultimate implementation; even when we do discover some of the mysteries of the mind we continue to tread water in their interpretations. Despite intellect, education, desire and experience, how we communicate is a mystery, too, as any married couple will tell you.