A while ago on SA there was a thread about unexpectedly depressing moments at work. I posted a story from this summer, and now you get to read it (I say you like anyone has ever been to this site). Enjoy.

Last week I was working the night shift as a nurse tech in the CCU/PCU at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. The nursing supervisor for the night called up to let us know that we were about to receive an admission from the ER. Our patient was an 83 year old lady with a GI bleed and a hemoglobin of 4 (that's incredibly low, indicating very severe bleeding). We prepared 2102-2 for her admission and the ER folks rolled her up a few minutes later. Mac was the nurse who was going to be taking care of her for the night and I went in to help get the patient situated. Her husband came up with her from the ER, he was also 83 years old and dressed the part. He was wearing corduroy pants and a button up sweater, walked with a slight hunch and had thinning gray hair. His wife looked extremely sick; she was pale and very thin with easily visible veins and a slow heart rate. She didn't have any problems with speech or memory, but she was very fatigued because of the bleeding and had trouble answering our questions without pausing for long periods of time. We got most of the history from her husband; he was a fastidious record keeper and had a small piece of paper in his wallet that detailed all of his wife’s conditions, medications and doctors. "I'd forget otherwise" he told us lightheartedly, trying to break the obvious tension in the room. As we were getting the information from him, he told us that his wife had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, was diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago (though she was not receiving treatment for it), and had a bevy of other problems from cardiac to gynecologic. She had a do not resuscitate order at home but they hadn't brought it with them, so we asked her what she wanted us to do in case she stopped breathing or her heart stopped beating. She and her husband both answered that they didn't want any heroic measures taken should that happen and thankfully there was no disagreement between them on that issue.

We continued our usual admission procedures, and while the nurse was collecting vital signs I asked the husband how long they had been married. It was his reaction to this question that made this case so difficult and is the reason I'll never forget it. He looked right at me, and his face lit up as he said, "65 wonderful years on July fourth. She just celebrated her 83rd birthday." In that instant that he looked at me and said those words, I could tell that there was so much more that he wanted to say, that my question had brought those 65 years of memories flooding back. Their wedding, their first house, their children, their old jobs, their vacations, their grandchildren, everything they had ever done together was written on his face, just below the surface. Instead of relating everything to me, he just looked back at his wife, and took her hand in his. The nurse finished up her assessment and we left the room. He went home late that night to get some sleep, but he was back before I came in at seven the next morning. I took his wife's vital signs at eight and asked if there was anything I could do for him. He smiled and told me that he was fine, thanking me for asking. He never took his eyes off his wife, and I think he knew that she likely wouldn't live to see their anniversary.

Several days later I came into work and learned that she had died the night before. Usually with a death like hers that's more or less expected, it's sort of routine to hear that the patient has passed away and no one really gives it much thought. However, when Mac told me that she was dead, it wasn't in the usual casual manner, and both of us looked at the ground and couldn't really think of anything to say. All I could think of was the image of her husband holding her hand, and of his face when he told me how long they'd been married.

First post am I rite lol!

So in order to post a comment on someone elses blog I had to reg an account here, and now I have my own blog. I've noticed that every group of friends has certain types of people which include the smart guy, the gay guy, the conservative (or liberal) guy, and the medical guy. I'm the medical guy, medicine has really become a big part of my life and I have plenty of wacky experiences to relate to the occasional isomniac who floats through here, so be prepared to be assaulted by the random and esoteric experiences of my young working life.

No blog post would be complete without linking to another blog, so check out my friends blog Duty, Honor, Country. He just got his commission in the US Army and has alot of interesting stories from his training.