wen
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
and so it is
a new semester, a whole lot more to learn.. i'm in my 4th week of my rotation at the rehabilitation hospital and my, how impressions can change! i remember that sense of dread as i walked into this old and rather run-down hospital. the fact that it's located next to the zoo makes it twice as bizarre and the barbed fence three times as daunting. i envisioned this hospital to be filled with patients who are frail and helpless, and abandoned and destitute. And after my first few days, my initial impressions seem to be set in stone.
until i met him
i inched into his room, uneasy and unsure. this is a man who has had his leg amputated from below the knee. How should one approach and console an individual who has suffered as a devastating loss that only he alone can understand? the sombre mood of the room was consuming to say the least. he was on his wheelchair, with his back towards me, staring out in the distance, as if lost in thought, and lost in time...
and then, without warning, as if he had only just noticed a movement from teh corner of his eye, he spun his head around, and his face lit up with absolue glee, and he exclaimed, "Hi my dear! How are you today?" I was taken aback, but extremely relieved, for this old man seems genuinely happy to see me! I put down the armour that med students call books and mustered the widest grin that i could manage. "I'm great Pete. How are u going?"
He is one of the most jovial person that I've met. minutes later, i came to the most difficult question, " how do u feel abt what has happened?"
He peered over at me, wrinkles adding an added sparkle to his eyes. "What can you do darling? We have to pick up the pieces and move on. That is the only thing that we can do."
so simply said, and so true.
and for the next few days, I became a regular visitor. not only because he would have wanted someone to talk to. no. it is a common misconception that pple have. that doctors make the patients feel better. more often than not, it is actually the patients that make our day.. sometimes, we need the patients more than they need us...
"bye Pete. I'll come by again tom!"
"I;m looking forward to that! Talking to you always makes my day darling!"
and you have just made mine....