The past week was hard. I entered into it surprisingly calm, but by the end I found myself thinking issues that are deeper and more serious than the ones that normally enter my mind. Tuesday started off surprisingly well. My first patient was being discharged by the time I made it up to the floor, so I was reassigned and met a nice woman who was brought in for a gallbladder removal. After an exciting but fast paced Tuesday evening, I went home tired but satisfied with my day.
Wednesday’s clinical was a complete one-eighty from Tuesday's, and I left with a lot more on my mind than just our upcoming test or what to make for dinner. With my patient being discharged around 5:30, it left me with time to see other patients. Visiting with others, I felt for the first time that I was really dealing with sick people. So many patients, my first patient included,appear to be in such good health and good spirits that you almost forget that they are sick. On patient inparticular struck a cord with me. At the age of 40 this patient was diagnosed with Stage IV liver cancer. As I talked with a fellow classmate, we both agreed that we could not imagine life being cut short like that. We also discussed how a situation like that could happen. How can you go one day from being perfectly healthy to being diagnosed with a, many times, fatal prognosis? We kept asking questions and wondering why the doctors didn’t catch it earlier, or why the patient did have more symptoms that could have alerted medical staff to the right conclusion faster? I understand that they are all questions that do not have answers, yet I still found myself pondering them.
As of right now the only answer I have been able to come up with is that the bottom line is life is short. You go through it assuming that you will have decades to accomplish everything you have planned. No one ever assumes that they will be the person to drop dead of a heart attack at the age of 60 or be diagnosed with Stage IV liver cancer at the age of 40 or be the 20 year old who was hit by a bus while crossing at a busy intersection. It makes you realize that you should take the extra minutes in the morning to cuddle with the guy or girl you love. Or go out of your way to make sure you see your family and friends as often as possible. Or stop putting off those silly items on your bucket list and just do them already. Weeks and events like this past one really makes a person want to listen to that old, silly cliché and live today like it was their last.
No comments:
Post a Comment