Clerked a paraplegic female patient in the orthopaedic ward today. She sustained multi-level fractures of the vetebral column due to a fall from a 2-storey building. She's paralysed from the waist down. Besides urinary and faecal incontinence, she can't walk. Can't stand. And no more sensation.
My heart was deeply touched by her optimism. She answered our questions (even silly ones) very patiently, with a broad smile, making our history taking very smooth-sailing. And she allowed our untrained hands to examine her.
She's just 30. A very jovial and chatty young lady, despite the situation she's in. And yet she's bed-ridden. I could see from her eyes that she missed her home, her family, her siblings. I don't know if she'll be able to recover from her injury. My heart felt sour. Before leaving, I said a prayer to God, hoping that she'll regain the ability to walk.
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I had a bad dream. Dreamt that my father was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). It woke me up at 3.30am. Ha. What a relief! It's only a dream.
Hope she'll be OK!
ReplyDeleteNo more reading about cancer before sleep!
Hey finally another medic guy on the prowl :)
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, no textbooks an hour before sleep. Llisten to some music, read the papers.
gor: i didn't read it b4 sleep la.
ReplyDeletesavante:so i hv to purposely allocate an hour a day just for music and the papers? lol. wish i had da time. ha.
:) a medicine guy u r. indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou have the kind heart a doctor must have...:)
ReplyDelete