they say you can’t hurt a patient with the ultrasound probe but that’s not true.
i still have bruises along my ribs, tender, faintest blue.
almost no one found my heart in the subcostal view.
maybe a couple did but i don’t remember who.
but there were a few who touched me gently, talked me through,
asked if i was hurting, described what you were going to do,
and it is you i remember. i do remember you.
you made me feel safe and seen. i hope you always do.
i hope it was not just because i am one of you.
Jenny Hong is a MS1 at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Art by Joyce Jiang, an MS2 at the Perelman School of Medicine.
