[voiceover] We're all looking for answers in medicine, in life, in everything. Sometimes the answers we're looking for have been hiding just below the surface. Other times we find answers when we didn't even realize we were asking the question. Sometimes the answers can catch us completely by surprise. And sometimes, even when we find the answer we've been looking for, we're still left with a whole hell of a lot of questions.
S7 E7That's Me Trying
S7 E8Something's Gotta Give
[voiceover] The human body is a highly pressurized system, the blood pressure measures the force of blood pulsating through the arteries. It's important to keep this pressure regulated, low or inadequate pressure can cause weakness or failure. It's when the pressure gets too high that problems really occur. If the pressure continues to increase, a closer examination is called for because it's the best indicator that something is going terribly wrong.
Why do we so many post-op fistulas after pancreas surgeries? I mean, your operation is flawless. It doesn't matter. We still see fistulas in what? 20 percent of patients? I- I think there's a way to bring that number down. I just gotta find it.
Miranda...
I needed a win, sir. I've got a string of big losses and I could use a win, that's all. Yang... Yang was the one I didn't have to worry about.
I know. I know. Look into the pancreatectmy patients, figure it out and then let me know how I can help.
Uh, can I use Avery? He actually gave me the idea. He was great today.
That's good to know. You know, Alex Karev saved a baby's life with a ping pong ball?
A ping pong ball?
Yes, he did.
Hmm. Alex Karev.
[voiceover] Every pressurized system needs a relief valve, there has to be a way to reduce the stress, the tension before it becomes too much to bear. There has to be a way to find relief because if the pressure doesn't find a way out it'll make one. It will explode. It's the pressure we put on ourselves that's the hardest to bear. The pressure to be better than we are. The pressure to be better than we think we can be. It never ever ever lets up. It just builds and builds and builds.
S7 E9Slow Night, So Long
[voiceover] We doctors, take pride in the fact that we can basically sleep standing up. Anytime, anywhere. But it's a false pride because the truth is, after about 20 hours without sleep, you might as well just come to work drunk, doctor, or not. So, it's no wonder that fatal medical errors increase at night. When we doctors are, proudly, sleeping on our feet. Recently, our communal pride has been shattered, and our egos have been wounded by new laws that require that we sleep all day before we work all night. We're not happy about it. But as someone who may one day need medical care, you really should be.
Nice face.
At least I can do surgery. How's that hand?
It'd be better if you hadn't run your face into it.
[Teddy joins Mark, Callie, Miranda and Derek for a drink after her date]
Okay, so get this...his very first question: "So what's your favorite food?"
What'd you say?
French, but that's not the point. Why would he ask me what my favorite food was? Like he read that that's some good icebreaker from some internet handbook that was handed out at the loser fair? Ugh!
This is why you don't meet people on the internet.
You're married! You don't get to have an opinion about my pathetic forays into internet dating.
Remember the first day the chief said only two of us would make it?
AMAlex and Meredith
I thought it would be me and Cristina.
[voiceover] Under the cover of darkness, people do things they'd never do under the harsh glare of day. Decisions feel wiser, people feel bolder. But when the sun rises, you have to take responsibility for what you did in the dark and face yourself under the cold, harsh light of day.
S7 E10Adrift and at Peace
[voiceover] The first 24 hours after surgery are critical. Every breath you take, every fluid you make, is meticulously reported and analyzed. Celebrated or mourned. But what about the next 24 hours? What happens with that first day turns to two and weeks turn into months? What happens when the immediate danger has passed, when the machines are disconnected and the teams of doctors and nurses are gone? Surgery is when you get saved, but post-op, after surgery, is when you heal. But, what if you don't?
EEli
Look, if Dr. Bailey wants it put back in, then I will.
She's in surgery.
EEli
Well, then it'll just have to wait.
Fine. I'll do it myself.
EEli
You're not touching that patient.
Excuse me?
EEli
You have your list. But I have 12 years of experience that tells me putting that drain back in right now could actually put him at more risk for infection. 12 years I've been here. 12 years. Now, you residents, you come and go, but this is my home and you are my guest, and right now you are no longer welcome.
Listen, I don't know what's going on here but I know better than to mess with you on turf so do me a solid, nod and act as if we're havin' a big debate here 'cause Dr. Grey over there, she agreed to go out with me if I talked to you.
EEli
She's bossy.
I know, I dig it.
EEli
What's in it for me?
Seahawks. Sunday, box seats.
EEli
Parking?
Of course.
EEli
Okay. [shouts] Unless Dr. Bailey herself orders that drain put back in I...
Now mention how highly I think of her.
EEli
... I don't care if you think Dr. Grey is the best resident you've ever seen come through this program.
I understand, and I respect that. Thank you. [walks back to Lexie] Ah, I did what I could. What time do you get off?
What?! That's it? You didn't do anything!
See you at nine. [walks off]
You're going out with Sloan tonight?
One drink. And then you are gonna interrupt us and tell me that there#s a medical emergency.
There might be a medical emergency if you don't get that drain put back in your guy. I'm just sayin'. I guess you can observe when I'm taking out that gallbladder through dude's mouth.
Do you want to know what I think? I think you're reckless. I think you're reckless with your own life and today you were reckless with a patient's life. I don't care who you are. I don't want that in my OR, and I do not want that around my wife who is struggling just to hold on.
Your wife is struggling just to hold on because you married her and let it be OK for her to completely fall apart.
...
You are fearless, and I don't mean that in a good way. Most people don't tell the guy with the gun to shoot them. Most people are like Cristina. Most people are afraid. So what she needs isn't what you need. She isn't you, Meredith.
[voiceover] The goal of any surgery is total recovery - to come out better than you were before. Some patients heal quickly and feel immediate relief. For others the healing happens gradually, and it's not until months or even years later that you realize you don't hurt anymore. So the challenge after any surgery is to be patient. But if you can make it through the first weeks and months, if you believe that healing is possible, then you can get your life back. But that's a big if.
S7 E11Disarm
Meredith [voiceover] To a degree, medicine is a science...but I would argue that it's also an art. Doctors who see medicine as a science only, you don't want them by your side when your bleeding won't stop or when your child is screaming in pain. The clinicians go by the book. The artists follow their guts. The artists feel your pain and they go to extremes to make it stop. Extreme measures. That's where science ends and art begins.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Grey's Anatomy pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.