My group's cadaver is named Ruby. Likely not the name she was born with as this is not information we as medical students are privy to. But this is the name I gave her. I have chosen to give a name to each cadaver I have had the opportunity to work on. When I tell classmates the names I have assigned the body I get mixed responses. Sometimes people think it is weird. Obviously this is a completely fair way to feel. For me, it gives a persona to this lifeless body on a table. It reminds me that this was once a living, breathing person. Someone who had a family, friends, hopes, and fears. For me it is deference that I am paying to someone who has given me the chance to learn the human body inside and out. It is really easy to forget that this was in fact a person, especially when you are sawing off the skull cap and other equally important body parts. I am sure in medicine this forgetfulness spreads beyond the dead to real live patients in front of us on a daily basis. But everyone is a person and I hope to continue to remember this.
As I examined Ruby's brain today I began to reflect. At one time this organ housed all of Ruby's memories, all of her thoughts, her imagination. It is hard to imagine this as the brain is being passed from student to student, probed, and examined. I am sure the memories are long gone now - hopefully taken with Ruby to wherever she is now. It makes me think about my own nana and my mother, both of whom lost their memories too early. This small, seemingly insignificant organ sure has a powerful and incredible job. I think that there has to be a hub somewhere else for these memories. Many of them are housed in my mind for safe keeping. I will pass them to mine and they to theirs. But many of the memories have gone... maybe to meet up with mom when she leaves this world. One can only hope.
Thank you Ruby.
