Depressing April 23, 2008
Posted by keepbreathing in ICU, death, hospital, medicine.trackback
30 years old with terminal cancer of a non-removable deeply essential organ. No family. No friends. No wife. No children. Just a man alone with his tumors, wasting quietly away in the ICU where we can do absolutely nothing beyond meaninglessly prolonging his suffering.
That, my friends, just plain sucks.
This is why I need to get out of healthcare. Seeing things like this EVERY DAY for 9 years is sucking out my soul. This past weekend I had a 4 month old come into the ER. Asystole. We never got her back.
Palliative care consult?
I always hate it when I get a call abut a patient dying in an ICU with no friends/family. It seems like everyone should have SOMEONE who gives a crap.
Sad. In this case, I suppose you guys are his friends.
I am sorry, KB. That is agonizing. However, you may be doing more for this poor man than you know. He will not die alone with no one to care for him, and while that is less than you want for him, it is a lot. You are also on the team that has the power to relieve his pain, and that too is a lot.
We are all terminal, ultimately. Sometimes, the best we can do is offer each other some comfort while life lasts. The time that you spend doing that is time well spent. Thank you for not giving up!
I am sorry. It just sucks. I am here for you though. Let me give out some energy into your being so that you may continue to do what it is that you do; that is help take care of a man alone with his tumors. That is why you are who you are, who we all are. We love you and each other, we are our own tumors.
That does suck. Those are the ones I bring home with me too.