Bye Bye Intensivists

The stupid hospital where I work did not renew the contract of the intensivists that I have worked with for 12 years. The group has worked at the hospital for 35 years total and just like that, they are done. I am so devastated by it because not only have we worked together side by side through many happy, sad, and heartbreaking moments throughout the years (COVID anyone?), but they have genuinely become my friends. So many inside jokes, laughs, and deep conversations over the years. Forgive me while I am grieving for the next little while. A job I really can't stand just became that much worse.

We had a little fun with each of them for their last week, except Ivester, which I feel bad about. I am the least close to him but we should still have done something. Anyway, here are some pictures. 

Andrews:

Probably gonna miss this guy the most. Actual friends and he is the nicest human being and so, so smart. He made his ICU weeks a dream. I loved after rounds when he would come to my side of the ICU and plop down and talk to me about life and kids and travel and whatever else. His daughter and Hallie are friends so we had some commonalities. He was so easy to talk to and a ton of fun to tease. I will miss his smirk and his eye rolls in rounds. An absolute gem of a human being.

We hung pictures of him all around the unit and then made him sign autographs for each of us. We had several versions and all of them extra flattering. :) 

Anderson:

If anyone has ever talked to me about the ICU ever, you have heard some Anderson stories. He is such a riot and the most eclectic human I may have ever met. I will miss his weeks; we have joked for years that we need a reality TV show on his weeks, and like The Office, have the cameras pan to our faces cause you just never know what is going to happen with him. Regardless, he has a heart of gold and is brilliant. I will miss everything about him, including his outfits and hair-dos! 

We just did cookies and snacks one day for Anderson. Nothing too special, but he was one of the earlier weeks and we got better as time went on.

Syed:

Ugh, this is getting worse and worse as I go. Look at this man and his personality. He was one of the easiest to talk to and loved to share life stories, jokes, and advice. When I left the hospital last year, he gave me some of the best advice that really helped me on my journey. We have joked about jumpers for years, so we finally got him one of his own. He did put it on for a bit and for the token picture. He is a fantastic human and I will miss him so much. We also hung this picture below all over the unit, because isn't it the best??

Dagar: 

Dagar is one of the harder ones to crack, but over the years I feel like I did a pretty good job. We became friends and he would even joke from time to time during rounds. Ha. He is really such a pleasant and even-keeled human; his weeks were always easy. He is super kind and fun to tease just a bit. Dagar week was the last one before the entire group was done, so we had a cake made for him to celebrate him and really the whole crew and the ending of an era.

Janowski: 

Ah, Janowski- another one I was really close with. He has the best one liners and if you ask anyone in the unit their favorite "Janowski-ism", everyone had something different because he had so many of them. His top one is probably "sub-optimal"- said at the most inappropriate times, but he has so many more. We made t-shirts and wore some of the favorites one day with him. In his words, we looked like Teletubbies (Hahah!!) but it was fun. He is such an incredible human being as well, a super smart physician, and a great friend. We had good chats about hiking and did the Grand Canyon at the same tiem one year. Good times. 

Terry: "Are we done yet?" 
Janowski: "Shall we?"
me: "Make them presentable to themselves"
Kristy: "Get them a cookie tray" 

Grover:

The chief of the group, the king of kings. There is no one like Grover. He is incredibly funny and witty and has the banter down. He has always teased me about being from Idaho and says that my brain is inherently smaller due to being from Idaho and every time I cross the border to go to Idaho, I lose brain cells, but luckily when I come back, they regain. He goes to Idaho for work too and will say the same, that he lost some brain cells. He has always joked about his 20 gram brain and my 2 gram brain and everyone else is in the middle, so Terry and I got him some t-shirts to reflect our brain sizes. We also made him a cake with a picture of some of his classic socks. I am unsure how I am gonna live without a good Grover week every 7 weeks. Another man that is a genuine friend.

Losing one of these friends would be a huge loss, but losing all 7 at once is almost unbearable. I am so glad I had them in my life for 12 years and for all the things I have learned from them; about medicine, about humanity, about kindness, about loss, and about friendship.