Externship: Week 6

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Well, my externship period is quickly winding down. Although most students complete theirs within the six-week time frame, mine will take a tad bit longer to log 180 hours because I am only working approximately 30 hours per week.

Today was an interesting day in the office. Not only were we wall-to-wall with patients to be seen but the incoming phone calls to our area were completely whacked! The volume of phone calls and voicemails were so high that it took one MA almost completely out of patient care to keep them under somewhat control.

My favorite elderly patient (the one who made me realize the inevitable) came in to the office today to be hooked up to a 24-hour Holter monitor. She, and her husband, are two of the sweetest people I know and I always enjoy working with them.

I was also blessed to work with a new patient (new to me) today, too. After pulling her lab requisition from the pocket on the wall outside her exam room door, I knocked on the door, then poked my head in to introduce myself and tell her I would be back in just a few minutes to draw blood from her. She had the saddest eyes I have seen in a long time and I knew it wouldn't take much for the tears collecting on her lower lid to spill over onto her cheeks.

After collecting my equipment and paperwork I returned to her room and sat down on the chair across from her. As I organized the tubes, needle, cotton balls and such, I made small talk with her.

Finally our eyes just kind of locked on each other and very quietly I said to her "You look so sad today..." As she reached for a tissue in her pocket to stop the avalanche of tears, I leaned over to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. After a few minutes she was able to tell me the reason for her sadness.

Her husband of 63 years fell recently and broke his hip and was in a nursing home. Because she had had one of her own hips replaced in 2004, she was no longer able to drive and had become reliant upon one of her daughters, who lives nearby, to take her to see her husband. She indicated today that the nursing facility her husband is in would be weaning him off of the trach tube soon.

As if that weren't quite enough stress for this beautiful lady, she is also trying to understand Medicare and the mumbo-jumbo that constitutes their "policy".

So, we just sat there together for several minutes. She poured her heart out and I listened. I did get around to the blood draw eventually, but at that particular moment in time, drawing blood was not nearly as important to me as it was for me to listen and to be human and compassionate to a very beautiful woman with the sad eyes.