Saying goodbye

Less than three weeks to go and I will be back in Haiti!  Even though I've been planning this trip for a long time, I can't believe how quickly it's approaching.  I have just over a week left at work, which is crazy to me.  After seven and a half years at Shands, I can't believe that I only have a handful of days left working there.  It was sad telling my coworkers that I'm leaving.  But, as I expected, it's been much harder saying goodbye to my patients and their families.  Some of these kids I've known for years and have taken care of them as both a nurse and a nurse practitioner.  After going through so much with them it's definitely bittersweet to give them a hug one last time, not knowing when our paths will cross again.  When I started working in pediatric oncology, I had no idea what I was in for.  It has been the most difficult and the most rewarding thing I've ever done. 

I was examining a 9-year-old patient this past week.  I told him it was the last time I was going to give him his checkup because I was going to be moving away from Gainesville.  "Where are you going," he asked me.  When I told him I was going to Haiti, he got serious, looked me in the face and said, "does this mean you're going to be eating goats?"  And that is just another reason why I love working in pediatrics...