A Las Vegas Tragedy......

Monday I got a call from my friend in Las Vegas......he told me my primary care physician, Dr. Edna Makabenta was shot and killed. An 80 yr old patient shot her at her office. He shot her in the head, then shot himself.
I was in complete shock. All day at work, I was in this fog just trying to make sense of it. I couldn't believe it. She is the nicest, sweetest person. It was totally unexpected. I'm still trying to make sense of this. I wonder if she saw the warning signs that this patient who killed her was unstable? I wonder if she knew this might happen?
She treated me like a family member. She told me about her daughter who was going to UC Berkeley. She had a sense of humor and a smile every time I saw her. She got me through some rough times. She came home early from her vacation because she was worried about her patients! That is the kind of doctor she was. She spent so many hours at her office, its a wonder that her family even saw her. She was the only physician in her practice so she never did get a break. Its not like we were best friends and we hung out on the weekends but she was my doctor for 4 years. Her patients all loved her because she was an amazing person.
When we left Las Vegas and moved to Salt Lake, I requested my medical records and went by her office to pick them up on my way out of town. I told her we were moving and she gave me a hug and said if I ever needed anything to give her a call. I never realized that would be the last time I would see her.
I hope that she is at peace now. I hope that her family gets through this and finds the peace that comes after the grieving.
It makes me think about working in the field I'm in, whether that's health care or social work. Working with people who are mentally ill we put ourselves at risk everyday. I work with people who struggle with mental illness and I never gave much thought to being in harm's way. I'm not gonna give up and change my profession....I certainly didn't pick this field for the money! I'm still gonna keep doing what I do every day which is help people. Are all people with mental health issues going to behave like that? Of course not. But it gives me something to think about, maybe I need to be a bit more cautious and aware that my clients are unstable and we don't know what they are capable of.