Circling The Drain

She spoke little English. But with a heart rate around 40 and a B/P in the 50’s, I’m surprised she was awake. Her potassium was critical. The normal range is 3.5 to 5. Hers was nearly 7. Hyperkalemia is a silent killer. It usually comes from kidney failure, but she had no history of it. Nurses frantically did what they could to keep her alive. I was taking her some place bigger. A place where they have dialysis; her only hope.

That… and prayer.

So I prayed on the way and spoke healing into a body gone mad. I kept an eye on the pumps and watched her vitals, which steadily improved. When we dropped her off in the ICU, her heart rate was clipping along around 100. Their first B/P was 118/ 70.