Been up since 0330. Why?  I found out yesterday that my 12yo patient from Friday was bus-ed (aka taken by ambulance) back to the hospital on Saturday with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)...  The ED personnel and the anesthesiologist at the hospital got her intubated, stable for transport and put her on a life flight helicopter to Northern VA.

I cannot stop thinking about her.

I have connected with patients over the years on multiple occasions, but this one has hit me hard.  This could be my daughter.  The two girls share the same bday.  This could be me looking at the doctors and nurses and waiting for them to tell me if my daughter will be one of the 40% who live after ARDS.  There are 150,000 cases of ARDS reported annually in the US (www.ards.org) and why is it my daughter?

Hug your kids today, let the messes and squabbles not matter, and just say a prayer for a girl, her parents, and those taking care of her...