Some people used to have the mindset that doctors are like magicians with super healing powers. Like they can never fall sick like ordinary people or they don't get terminal illnesses or chronic illnesses. But oh they do and they are just like ordinary people getting ordinary and rare diseases. The thing that separates them from the norm is that they perceive it in a different manner. Well, there is an article about a story of a doctor been diagnosed with a terminal disease. As a doctor, he sees a lot of patients and are aware of the risks and sufferings that he will face and blablabla, in the end he denied treatment, quit his job and spent quality time with his family.
As a medical student, you will be posted into rotations where you will be observing what the doctors will do to the patient. As a student, all that runs in our head are mainly what is being observed and what things are done as well as how things are done. Sometimes or most of the time, we fail to acknowledge the presence of the patient. Their current mood, behaviour, fear..... Well, I had an ultrasound this evening for some unknown lump in the neck (yes we medical student can fall sick too), as I was lying on the bed beside the ultrasound machine, the only thing that was circling round my head was what will the screen show? What abnormality will they find or detect and is it severe or just mild? The fear in me and I realise these are the feelings that people will feel generally. Like they are worried and concern.
And as a student when we observe and learn, we fail to take into consideration of the patients' current emotion when they are undergoing all these tests and investigations. We generally ask about their main concerns and worries but I realise we fail to assure or comfort them during these period of time. Well thanks to the nurses, some of them do comfort them and reassuring them that it's going to be alright. Well, the procedure might be going all right, the results MIGHT NOT BE.
Well, I had undergone CT, MRI and X ray before but this time was the first time that I realise and understand the process that they undergo. Maybe for the first few time I could care much about the result hence wasn't worried about it so wasn't thinking about it. But now, I think I do understand their feeling. Some might feel worried about the results, some are just there as a routine check, some needs a good result for permit, some just couldn't care much about it. The amazing thing is that when this process is occuring, different people have different spectrum of emotions from joy to sadness. A pregnant mother undergoing ultrasound to check the health of the baby might be overjoyed and anticipated by it. Someone with a lesion might be worried and concerned about what it is. A person recovering would be having some hope in him that the results are improving. There are some that goes in and fall asleep as well, I will not be too surprised with that.
Today's experience one of an eye opening experience that I would regret if I missed it.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
I had a thought in mind, sort of a short story, medically related but can be applied to other situations as well:
A teenage boy was diagnosed some lesion in his head. To remove it requires a surgery with unpredictable risks and minimal chances of recovery. So the parents of the child had decided that they are not going to proceed with surgery and just let their son live the way he wanted to, to try out everything he could that life could offer. No one knows when he would just go off so it's better for him to get what he wants.
This boy had reached a state of acceptance where he no longer denies his disease and decided to live his life to the fullest. He went traveling all around the world (parents are quite loaded with $$), did some adrenalin pumping outdoor sports (since he couldn't get the chance to do it back then) like bungee jumping, skydiving, skiing and so on.
It was a particular holiday trip to one of the countries where he tried bungee jumping. He loves traveling to different places in the world to bungee jump. On that particular day, nothing seems wrong about anything. When he jumped off the bridge with the rope attached to his leg, his mind was clear and at peace, but only to realise that the nightmare is going to start. The rope snapped on him and instead of retracting him back up, he continued free falling. Most bungee jump places are built around lakes and rivers and this is no exception. Knowing that he is going to hit the water soon, he prepared himself for diving in to the water. Well, he survived the jump but suffered some minor fractures on his arm.
Just to be save, he was sent to a hospital for a full thorough scan to make sure everything is all right. And the scan showed that he did not suffered from any terminal illness in his head at all, it was wrongly diagnosed as something serious. Well hell ya the parents got so mad and pissed off with this. They had a legal document ready for that doctor to blame. They had spent so much and worried so much, there must be justice and compensation to that.
The boy was thinking to himself for a moment and then talked into his parents about dropping those charges against the doctor and his practice. Well what was he thinking about???
You see, in his perspective,
''I tried bungee jumping in so many places so many times, and others have tried that too. In the whole lifetime of a bungee jumping rope, it may serve maybe a couple hundreds of people before it decides to fail on one. And I happened to be that unlucky one. So do I quit on bungee jumping just because of that, no, I still love bungee jumping. And if this bungee rope is faulty, would I still trust in the company that manufacture it, yes because there are certain quality controls that have been carried out to ensure its safety and durability. Since I am giving this sport a second chance, why not give this doctor a second chance.''
A doctor, in his lifetime, does make mistake but its part and puzzle of life, like some have quoted, you learn through your mistakes. Just because he had done one mistake, I chose to snatch his license off him just like that. Well, if he is doing the same mistakes over and over again, or he did several mistakes, there must be something wrong with the quality control and some quality inspection must be carried out. But one out of the blue mistakes and I take his license away, is like making the company that produce the bungee rope bankrupt and completely disappear.
Just for a thought that was occurring while I was on my way back home from a clinic in the bus. Self reflection moment.
A teenage boy was diagnosed some lesion in his head. To remove it requires a surgery with unpredictable risks and minimal chances of recovery. So the parents of the child had decided that they are not going to proceed with surgery and just let their son live the way he wanted to, to try out everything he could that life could offer. No one knows when he would just go off so it's better for him to get what he wants.
This boy had reached a state of acceptance where he no longer denies his disease and decided to live his life to the fullest. He went traveling all around the world (parents are quite loaded with $$), did some adrenalin pumping outdoor sports (since he couldn't get the chance to do it back then) like bungee jumping, skydiving, skiing and so on.
It was a particular holiday trip to one of the countries where he tried bungee jumping. He loves traveling to different places in the world to bungee jump. On that particular day, nothing seems wrong about anything. When he jumped off the bridge with the rope attached to his leg, his mind was clear and at peace, but only to realise that the nightmare is going to start. The rope snapped on him and instead of retracting him back up, he continued free falling. Most bungee jump places are built around lakes and rivers and this is no exception. Knowing that he is going to hit the water soon, he prepared himself for diving in to the water. Well, he survived the jump but suffered some minor fractures on his arm.
Just to be save, he was sent to a hospital for a full thorough scan to make sure everything is all right. And the scan showed that he did not suffered from any terminal illness in his head at all, it was wrongly diagnosed as something serious. Well hell ya the parents got so mad and pissed off with this. They had a legal document ready for that doctor to blame. They had spent so much and worried so much, there must be justice and compensation to that.
The boy was thinking to himself for a moment and then talked into his parents about dropping those charges against the doctor and his practice. Well what was he thinking about???
You see, in his perspective,
''I tried bungee jumping in so many places so many times, and others have tried that too. In the whole lifetime of a bungee jumping rope, it may serve maybe a couple hundreds of people before it decides to fail on one. And I happened to be that unlucky one. So do I quit on bungee jumping just because of that, no, I still love bungee jumping. And if this bungee rope is faulty, would I still trust in the company that manufacture it, yes because there are certain quality controls that have been carried out to ensure its safety and durability. Since I am giving this sport a second chance, why not give this doctor a second chance.''
A doctor, in his lifetime, does make mistake but its part and puzzle of life, like some have quoted, you learn through your mistakes. Just because he had done one mistake, I chose to snatch his license off him just like that. Well, if he is doing the same mistakes over and over again, or he did several mistakes, there must be something wrong with the quality control and some quality inspection must be carried out. But one out of the blue mistakes and I take his license away, is like making the company that produce the bungee rope bankrupt and completely disappear.
Just for a thought that was occurring while I was on my way back home from a clinic in the bus. Self reflection moment.
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