Samll things

Sometimes it's the small things that make or break a day. Today they made it.

A young lady had been in to the hospital on the weekend because she was having a miscarriage. She is from another Pacific nation, living in PNG with several members of her extended family who are in business here. She was having severe cramps, but the emotional pains probably had been worse. After trying a more conservative approach, I had had to do a D&C.

This morning she was back, smiling, and pain-free, at least as far as the physical pain goes. Naturally, she and her husband had a lot of questions, which I tried to answer for them. As the left they gave me a bag of pastries, which they said were typical of their country.

So often I deal with problems that are more complicated, and often the outcomes aren't as good. And often I don't know when patients get better. It was nice that this young lady got better, and it was nice to know. And the pastries were nice, too.

The next patient was an elderly lady, a lady who is much more comfortable in the village than at a busy place like the hospital. She doesn't speak any language but her tribal language. She looked frightened and out of place, but her husband seemed concerned and kind. She had been discharged from the hospital about a week ago, after several days of treatment for both congestive heart failure and pneumonia. She had been very ill. I reviewed the x-ray before going into the exam room. It still didn't look very good, but was definitely improving.

When I went in to examine her, she told me (through her husband's translation) that she was feeling much better. She still had some cough, but all the swelling had gone down, and she could breath easily. Then her husband said, "I had thought she was going to die. Now she is alright!" After making some changes in her medications, I reached out to give her the little clinic book which serve as our patients medical records. As our eyes met, she gave me a really big smile, then shook my hand.

Sometimes the work is so routine. This was a reminder that what's routine to me may have life-and-death significance to my patients. It was nice to have a part in her recovery, and to know how big that part was to my patient and her husband.

When this couple left, it was a bit after noon, and time to leave for lunch. As I was walking out of the hospital, a passed a man who was walking with a slight limp. He had a big bandage on his left big toe. As I passed him, I greeted him briefly. When he saw me he said, "Doktaaaa" (they tend to draw out the "a" part.) "Yes?" I said, not sure what he wanted with me. "Last week you cut my foot, and now it's much better! Thank you!"

That brought it all back to me. The toe had looked terrible, infected and draining. I don't remember how his infection had started, but it was bad by the time I saw it. I wasn't at all sure that it could be saved, but I did a small procedure to drain the pus, and prescribed antibiotics for him. I hadn't been the one to see him in follow-up, but it was great to find out that what I had done had worked out well for him.

So it was a nice way to end the morning. Nice to have 3 small reminders that our work is making a difference in people's lives. Nice to have 3 small "bonuses."

Yours and His,
Andy

Photos
#1 Me casting the leg of a baby with clubfoot.
#2 Dr. Jim Radcliffe supervising a nurse treating an injured child
#3 A dad who brought his baby to the Outpatient Department

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