I CLOSED HIS EYES | Kirsten Myers

 I wish the physical exam
started with General Appearance:
“Parents crying at
the bedside.” That it captured

the PICU doctor kneeling,
consoling the little brothers. Instead of
no movement to painful stimuli,

my motor assessment captured
the tears in the eyes
of all the residents.

I continue tapping patellar reflexes
and brachioradialis tendons;
documenting no flicker of response,
pupils fixed.

I capture the child who left us
in the night without a whisper of
vital sign change to
let us know of his exit,

 we hope finally, to sleep.

Kirsten Myers is a neurology resident at the University of Utah. Her love for neurology came from a love of the unknown, and making sense of the unknown has been through writing. She loves going outside to bike, run and wander. Her poem "Hands" appeared in the Fall 2020 Intima.

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