Hello dear PFers. Haven't posted in a while. Just wanted to share my day with you all.
As some of you know, I'm a medical student. I'm basically finishing my rotations this year, and I'm on my last specialty rotation, namely internal medicine.
Today I met an extraordinary man. Here's his story.
He's a 40 year old African American man with no real past medical history. He presented to the ER today with urine leaking out of his penis. Sound normal, right? NO. This man is a quadriplegic. He has a catheter that goes into his bladder from his suprapubic area. So, the urine should be going into the catheter and not emptying out his penis. So that's why he was in the ER. But here's the saddest part.
This gentelman used to be a taxi driver here in Chicago. Five years ago, he was about to get into his car when a bullet hits him in the spine, at the level of C5. Which means you're paralyzed from the neck down, with very minimal hand function. Five days later he wakes up in the hospital with his wife by his side. To this day, no one knows what happened. They think it was a stray bullet. They never found the person who did it.
A couple years later, he had both his legs amputated up to his hip because of an infection to the bones called osteomyelitis. So, I walk into his room with my attending to speak to him about our plan to treat him. He's just a stump in the bed. His wrists are soooo hyperflexed that his hands look like stumps. BUT.....
he has the biggest smile on his face. He's in good spirits and incredibly pleasant and personable. A warm, lovely human being. And I just stood there looking at him, thinking about how unfair life's been to him. How he was just walking to his cab one day and a bullet out of nowhere had to hit him in the neck. I thought about how he looks down every morning and sees no legs and useless arms but manages to go on with his day. I thought about his wonderful wife that still takes care of him. I thought about how empty and helpless I felt because there was nothing anyone could do for him. As these thoughts were going through my head, tears starting filling my eyes and my heart was in my throat. I had to walk out and I cried like a baby outside his door. I cried for the life he's lost. And I knew in that moment I'd NEVER forget him. His smile, his optimism, his incredible will to live; he will always serve as a glowing example of the goodness of us humans. And he also serves as an example of our cruelty and our ugliness that allows one man to hurt another for no reason.
In this field, I've had a lot of ****ty days, wondering why the heck I chose to be a doctor. You question yourself often. But I have to say, I've met everything from the most aggravating people, to the most extraordinary and uplifting. And today, XXXXXX has made my pursuit worthwhile.
Thank you for reading......
As some of you know, I'm a medical student. I'm basically finishing my rotations this year, and I'm on my last specialty rotation, namely internal medicine.
Today I met an extraordinary man. Here's his story.
He's a 40 year old African American man with no real past medical history. He presented to the ER today with urine leaking out of his penis. Sound normal, right? NO. This man is a quadriplegic. He has a catheter that goes into his bladder from his suprapubic area. So, the urine should be going into the catheter and not emptying out his penis. So that's why he was in the ER. But here's the saddest part.
This gentelman used to be a taxi driver here in Chicago. Five years ago, he was about to get into his car when a bullet hits him in the spine, at the level of C5. Which means you're paralyzed from the neck down, with very minimal hand function. Five days later he wakes up in the hospital with his wife by his side. To this day, no one knows what happened. They think it was a stray bullet. They never found the person who did it.
A couple years later, he had both his legs amputated up to his hip because of an infection to the bones called osteomyelitis. So, I walk into his room with my attending to speak to him about our plan to treat him. He's just a stump in the bed. His wrists are soooo hyperflexed that his hands look like stumps. BUT.....
he has the biggest smile on his face. He's in good spirits and incredibly pleasant and personable. A warm, lovely human being. And I just stood there looking at him, thinking about how unfair life's been to him. How he was just walking to his cab one day and a bullet out of nowhere had to hit him in the neck. I thought about how he looks down every morning and sees no legs and useless arms but manages to go on with his day. I thought about his wonderful wife that still takes care of him. I thought about how empty and helpless I felt because there was nothing anyone could do for him. As these thoughts were going through my head, tears starting filling my eyes and my heart was in my throat. I had to walk out and I cried like a baby outside his door. I cried for the life he's lost. And I knew in that moment I'd NEVER forget him. His smile, his optimism, his incredible will to live; he will always serve as a glowing example of the goodness of us humans. And he also serves as an example of our cruelty and our ugliness that allows one man to hurt another for no reason.
In this field, I've had a lot of ****ty days, wondering why the heck I chose to be a doctor. You question yourself often. But I have to say, I've met everything from the most aggravating people, to the most extraordinary and uplifting. And today, XXXXXX has made my pursuit worthwhile.
Thank you for reading......
