ER Last Episode

And so, after 15 year, FIFTEEN, ER comes to an end. NBC aired the finale Thursday night. Admittedly, I was a big fan in the early years, and then it got a bit too draggy. And it started to remind me too much of work, and so I stopped watching years ago.
But wow, 15. I was in pre-med when the series started airing. And I remember the excitement as a medical student, when I actually saw the stuff I learnt that week in class come out in the show. It was pretty neat, to be able to tell my family what preeclampsia was, or point out that they had their stethoscope on backwards.
Anyway. Because this was the final finale, I had it recorded and watched it last night. It was a bit of an emotional experience for me for many reasons.
For one, I thought of my early medschool days in IMU (then IMC) when my buddies and I would follow. Boy, that was 1996. We had good times, there in PJ Old Town. And it felt like a reunion too (which was intentional I believe), to have some of the old cast show up. Carver. Carter. And that asshole Benton (well, he's now nice to Carter).
Seeing the episode last night, especially the part where the woman had an everted uterus post-partum, reminded me of some of those harrowing nights I had oncall in the MICU. Nights when patients were coding left and right. That night when that lady with the GI bleeding was exsanguinating to death right before my eyes. The ICU room floor was splattered with her blood. I remember coming home that day with blood on my shoes.
(A bit of digression, but you know, I do believe that many of us who have gone through internship suffer from mild post-traumatic stress disorder. I really do. On bad nights I still get nightmares of that woman, or that man who died from a tension pneumothorax right in front me despite my senior's efforts. Or the numerous resuscitations I have been involved in. ICU alarms still give me palpitations. I guess it comes with the job, and one has to be strong through internship, and so I tell my sister as she begins her journey into this world)
Anyways. Back to topic. ER finally comes to an end. I enjoyed watching the final 2-hour episode. And yes, one of the docs still got his stethoscope on backwards (really, just go watch it!).