Grey's Anatomy - Season 14

SEASON 14 

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Grey's Anatomy 14x01

A painful irony for doctors is that we often have to make you sicker in order to heal you. If a bone has healed unevenly, we have to rebreak it. If a scar is too thick we have to scrape it off and create a new wound. We break you down to rebuild you...

We go to medical school because we want to learn how to fix what's broken. But we quickly learn that we often have to make things worse before we can make them better. It's risky and it's frightening for surgeons and pacients but usually it's worth it. You get a second chance of life and we get to be the architects of your second chance. It's a win-win... when it works.

Grey's Anatomy 14x02 

There's a saying we hear a lot around hospitals that goes like this "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional". But I doubt the person who coined it ever went through major surgery. Or maybe they didn't mean physical pain, maybe they meant the other kind, the worse kind... Maybe they meant the kind of searing, seething, boiling pain that tells you you're a failure and a fraud. "Suffering is optional" That person didn't know what the fuck they were talking about.

As surgeons we try to eliminate pain. As humans we just try like hell to avoid it. When we can't avoid pain, we try to understand it with pithy little quotes that we can wrap our heads around like "suffering is optional" or "time heals all wounds". And my personal favorite "every pain has a purpose". God, I hope that one's true.

Grey's Anatomy 14x03

I'm going to tell you a secret, doctor are not gods. We like you to think we have all the answers. You have to trust us enough to let us cut open your flesh and poke around at your insides. So it's helpful if you think we have it all together. It's helpful if you don't know that, just like you, we're anxious, we're insecure, we're angry... You have to let us come at you with a scalpel, so it's helpful if you don't know that, just like you, we're wrecks.

So, how do we do it? how do we save lives when ours may be falling apart? Well, for one thing, we never perform surgery without an assist. We look at the case, we gather the team and accept we don't have to go it alone.

Grey's Anatomy 14x04

There are 100 billion neurons in the human brain making and remaking connections. It's helping us with math, remembering our keys, our dad's voice... working hard all the time. So when the brain is faulty it's a big rewiring job, and there's no margin for error.

When you're going into surgery you worry you won't wake up. But with brain surgery, you worry you will wake up but you won't be there when you do.

The trouble with crossed wires is you don't know they happened until it's too late so we have to be very careful with our connections. They take time, care and attention. They take vigilance and single-mindedness. We reconnect everything we can as carefully as we can. And then, we just have to pray to God that we got it right.

Grey's Anatomy 14x05

As surgeons we rely on cicles: heartbeats, cell regeneration, circadian rhythms... We know something's wrong when the cycle is broken and our duty is to fix it. To force the cogs back in line. But that break can also be useful, like a warning shot.

When we've come to depend on a cycle the thought of breaking it is scary, even the cycles that cause us harm. But sometimes, when we break the cycle we find something better, something unexpected. Something we never dared to dream was possible. We find freedom. We find peace...

Grey's Anatomy 14x06

Superheroes, soldiers, first responders... That's who we think of when we think of bravery, but surgeons should make the list too. Surgeons don't wear capes or armor, we don't carry guns and no one throws us a parade... But we do fight like hell to save your life. And we're also holding a knife in our hands knowing we might be the one to end your life.

Bravery isn't always about running into the fire, sometimes it's about facing our past. And on the hardest days it's about facing the future.

Grey's Anatomy 14x07

Surgeons are scientists trained to believe only in that which we can see and touch. But training doesn't always take...

Scientists or not, most of us who've been at this a while are forced to acknowledge the mysteries of life. We are forced to acknowledge that certain kind of magic exist and that history, memory and the ghosts of our past are sometimes just as tangible as anything we can hold in our hands.

Grey's Anatomy 14x08

There are some disasters you don't see coming no matter how carefully you plan. The little surprise that changes everything... In surgery we call it a complication and in life it's a catastrophe.

In surgery we call it a complication; a disruption, a glitch, a nasty surprise... It calls for extreme measures, you have to react quickly, try to catch up because it came out of nowhere and it can take everything away.

Grey's Anatomy 14x09

There are moments in the O.R. where everything goes to hell. And no matter how much you've seen, how ready you are, how much help you have... because nothing can truly prepare you. You have to keep going or your patient will die. The trouble is, in these moments, every instinct in your body tells you to freeze.

So, what do we do when instinct tells us to freeze? When we can't see the right answer... In those moments, it's usually a good idea to trust the instinct and take pause because decisions made in the heat of the moment can ruin a whole lot of lives.

Grey's Anatomy 14x10

In the course of one day Job received four messages, each with separate news that his livestock, servants and 10 children had all died. He continued to be a faithful servant, he still praised God. He persevered... Job's faith was tested and he passed the test. And for his faith, God rewarded Job with twice that he had before.

That's what Jesus said on the cross before he died: "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?". Job asked the question too, but he kept the faith. And what did he get for it? Replacement children, PTSD. Was it worth it to have been a faithful servant? Or would it have been better to just curse God's name from the beginning? Where was God throughout all of Job's suffering and pain? He was winning a bet with Satan. Makes you wonder where he is through all the unfairness, inequity and cruelty in the world. Where is he now?

Grey's Anatomy 14x11

On your deathbed no one wishes they'd worked more. That's the trite little phrase people trot out when they want to play hooky or spend too much money on vacation or shame working parents for missing their kid's soccer game for a board meeting. On your deathbed no one wishes they'd worked more. Tell that to the people who love their work...

It's not about whether you spend your life in board room, your bedroom or on a beach with Mai Tai in Maui. When you look back on your life the only thing that matters is... did you spend it doing what you love? With the people you love? Were you happy? Did you make the most of this beautiful, terrifying, messed-up life? Did you let go of all the things that held you back so you can hold on to what matters most?

Grey's Anatomy 14x12

We've all heard the quote "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". Easy for Thomas Edison to say. He had all the good ideas. 

Inspiration is not some mystical, unattainable thing. Inspiration is a seed. That seed turns into vision, that vision turns into a goal. And hopefully, that goal turns into victory. I said hopefully.

Grey's Anatomy 14x13

The longest surgery on record lasted for four days straight. A team of surgeons rotated in and out holding scalpals for sometimes 18 hours at a stretch. Try holding anything in your hands for 18 hours. Now, imagine you're also holding a human life...

 

When you hold on to anything for too long your muscles can form to the position you're holding. That applies to the heart and to the mind as well as the hand. The pain you know it's coming is what makes it easier to just keep holding on.

Grey's Anatomy 14x14

For surgeons, every day is game day. We've trained, we've practiced and we know the rules.

 

Unlike the laws of science, the rules of life aren't always clear. Some rules are unwritten. Some rules are open to interpretation. And just when we think we have a handle on the rules something comes along that totally changes the game.

Grey's Anatomy 14x15

On average, a healthy heart beats 115,000 times per day. When excited, the heart rate can double. The heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through your entire body 24 hours a day, it never rests. The heart is the hardest-working muscle in your body, but when it's damaged, it's just like skin. It scars. And scar tissue can be very dangerous in a heart, it weakens it. And eventually, a heart full of scars stops working.

Scarred hearts don't heal, but over time, the scars can change. They can become smoother, softer... And some scars can even fade away.  

Grey's Anatomy 14x16

The firsts surgeons were viviseccionist. When they opened a body they had no intention of closing it, they just wanted to see what was inside. And what they found was a world of possibilities. The possibility to heal, to reverse the damage, to turn back time...

 

When the worst of our fears are realized, when everything we've counted on has disappeared something still drives us to try to fix the past or define our future... When the only thing that really needs our attention is the present and its infinite possibilities. 

Grey's Anatomy 14x17

24 hours. 1440 minutes. 86400 seconds. That's all it takes for a patient to go from sick to healthy, from hopeful to dire. One day can bring you back from the brink, change your entire life with one heartbeat, one single breath. It's why doctors watch you like a hawk, hold you for observation. It's why we behave as if your every move, every sound, every input and output is life or death. Because it is... 

24 hours. 1440 minutes. 86400 seconds. That's all it takes to save your life, change your life. One single day can pull us from the depths of despair. And one single day can fill us with more possibilities than we could imagine.

Grey's Anatomy 14x18

Life doesn't owe us a thing, it just is. Like a river, it goes where it goes. You can try to fight against the current or you can learn to ride it. As surgeons, we dedicate ourselves to an endless fight against the current...

All day, every day, we fight against the current. Sometimes we lose, sometimes we win. Sometimes the current carries us exactly where we need to go. And sometimes it slams us right into the rocks.

Grey's Anatomy 14x19

When you're little and you announce to your parents that you want to be a doctor, they're thrilled. You practice medicine on your stuffed animals and you dream. The dreams turn to plans: pre-med, med school, residency and fellowship. It takes almost 15 years to prepare to be a surgeon. But no matter how much you prepare, 15 years isn't enough...

 

We spend our childhoods writing our dreams in our diaries. As adults, those dreams quietly come true every single day, only sometimes we forget to notice until it's too late. So slow down and take it in. Let yourself feel it because sometimes even the most beautiful dreams disappear when the sun comes up.

Grey's Anatomy 14x20

Adrenaline is the body's response to stressful situations. It's one of many biochemical compounds our bodies produce that alter our state of consciousness. Oxytocin makes us feel bonded with others. Dopamine makes us more alert and motivates us to seek reward. A lack of serotonin has been linked to depression. GABA, an amino-acid neurotransmitter, helps reduce anxiety. And endorphins create a heightened state of happiness like the kind we feel when we win.

Surgeons can benefit from altered states of consciousness but only when they're achieved naturally. The lows drive us to do better. The highs of saving a life are the reward for a job well done. And then there are times when our state of mind is altered, and it has nothing to do with brain chemistry. New opportunities open us up to greater possibilities. New information and a new perspective can permanently shift our consciousness and the way we see the world will never be the same.  

Grey's Anatomy 14x21

In your first year as an attending surgeon you're told to take baby steps, look for easy cases, the sure wins. No sense of making an ass of yourself. Better to rack up some easy victories. You can't avoid bad outcomes for your whole career, but you can sure try. Because getting a bad reputation can finish you before you start. 

We define ourselves by our actions. But it doesn't mean we have to live by that definition. We can change our own story. We can refuse to accept the way people define us. We can work like hell to escape a bad reputation only to wonder if we succeeded. It can be hard to shake the mistakes of the past, they'll always come back to haunt us. But one thing we never do, we don't stop. We don't quit. We get up and rejoin the fight.

Grey's Anatomy 14x22

Before surgery, we ask patients a series of questions "Do you have a job to return to? Do you have a support system at home? We're screening for mental illness. Anxiety, depression, delusions... We need to make sure you're of sound mind. We need to make sure you know what to expect. But if we check patients for mental illness, why not surgeons? Someone should really get on that. 

Fixing your mental health isn't like surgery. We can't just run the bloodwork and check the vitals. With mental health progress is way harder to measure. And if something's wrong, we have to take action. There's a lot of uncertainty. There's a lot of fear. And what might be easy for one person, for someone else might take inner strength you can't even imagine. But we have to try. We have to stand up to our demons. We have to face reality whenever possible and ask for help when we can't. And when we do that, healing is possible.

Grey's Anatomy 14x23

In surgery, we work to make our sutures as precise as we can. We try to minimize scars and to return full function. We try not to leave any trace of the injury.

In Japan, when a piece of pottery breaks, some potters fill the cracks with gold. The potters, they see the repairs as something beautiful. They know that the unexpected happens. Change happens. They know that nobody gets through this world in one piece. But that doesn't have to diminish us. The cracks are part of our history, they will always be with us. They made us better. They made us stronger. They made us something new...

Grey's Anatomy 14x24

A recent study found that marriage has actual health benefits. Married people live longer, have fewer strokes and fewer heart attacks than people who are single. Scientific or not, I find that study incredibly irritating.

Happily, there are other studies that tell us the real truth about the health of marriage. Which is that the benefits have nothing to do with marriage at all. Because those studies have shown that staying in an unhappy marriage is the worst thing you can do for your health and for your children. So, better health is a direct result of healthy relationships. You don't need a spouse, you just need someone you can trust, you need someone you can talk to. You need someone who will celebrate your wins and grieve your losses. You need someone who can forgive you. You need someone who will show up, no questions asked and walk with you through every unexpected twist and turn life throws your way.