i always felt that if i ever got into the medical profession, i'd want to work in OB or with AIDS patients - no middle ground. i never thought about the two meeting...

i helped care for my first HIV-positive patient this weekend and made sure i was on her side when i signed in yesterday for my shift.

while i was walking down the hall with her to go see her baby in the NICU, she was pushing her wheelchair because she needs to walk but is unsteady on her feet since she had a C-section. we were chatting while we were walking and i asked how the baby was doing and she said that she only just found out about her HIV status during the last two weeks of her pregnancy and that she was only recently put on her medications (read: baby was only put on meds during last two weeks as well) and she was really worried about him...she choked out the words "i know he's gonna be okay, there's a chance he may grow out of it" [unlikely] and then she started to cry as she said, "we talk to each other through our hearts..."

i just put my hand over hers as she guided her chair and walked her into the unit.