Object Permanence Project: Week 6

I took last week off from this as I was traveling to and from a Quaker business meeting, but I am back again this week!

My sixth beloved object that I appreciate owning is my stethoscope.



My dad bought this for me when I started NP school. It's a Littmann 3M Cardiology III stethoscope, and is by far the most reliable of all the stethoscopes I've owned (four or five over the years!)

I don't use it for much these days (urology! very little need for auscultation) but I do use it for heart and lung exams on new patients, and I use it if I need to pre-op someone. One day I would dearly love a job when I will need it for more than that. Being an object, it is very content to wait for that day. I don't think it feels lonely or put out at all. It lives in my office (pictured here on my office window sill) and everyone knows it's there and comes to borrow it when needed. Sometimes the docs steal it and then I have to raid their offices to get it back.

I also just like the aesthetics of this stethoscope.  Stethoscopes come in all sorts of colors these days, but I've always been a fan of classic black (though I've owned stethoscopes in forest green, raspberry, and cobalt blue). Dad knows these things about me! Many modern stethoscopes also dispense with the classic diaphragm and bell and instead have a single chestpiece that you tune by adjusting the pressure used. If I did more cardiology exams maybe I'd appreciate the ease of this, but I do prefer both the aesthetics and the function of manually switching between diaphragm and bell.

I didn't take pictures this week of what I am letting go of, but I will consider this a symbolic letting-go of all other stethoscopes I have owned. I also finally returned to the hospital a veritable pile of white coats that somehow made their way home with me.