Catchup
I haven't had many medical postings lately due to being very busy; I switched call groups at the beginning of the month and am now working with the hospitalist group (which means, when I'm on call, I have to go in and admit patients). Most of my Friday nights are spent in various emergency rooms now. This past weekend, in a fit of insanity, I worked both Friday and Saturday nights. Let's just say Sunday was a day on which very little was accomplished.
Drama abounds here at The Firm. Last Friday, a patient belonging to one of my partners (whom I had just admitted to the hospital two weeks previously) died at home half an hour after coming in for a visit. He was in his nineties and had severe chronic illnesses, but it was still a shock. He was a courtly Hispanic gentleman with a marvelous accent and was still as sharp mentally as he ever was. As he left the office in his wheelchair that last time I'd held the door for him and was rewarded with a warm "Gracias,
doctora!" It's hard to believe that somebody so alive could die such a short time later.
Then there was the 75-year-old patient I admitted with acute leukemia not long ago. I sat with him in the emergency room as he stared at me and asked, "How long do I have?" There's no way to answer that kind of question, even if you give them the facts and tell them what to expect over the next few days. How to give hope and a realistic assessment at the same time is something I have still to learn.
As we head into the flu season I am bracing myself for many busy nights to come. I'm taking my vitamins in the hope I won't come down with it myself.
posted by Dr. Alice at #
