Today was the first day in UKMMC for my Internal Medicine posting. The day is yet to be over, and I'm having my on-calls later as well. There's quite a variety of cases in the wards, a nice welcome for us after all. I was clerking an 82 years old Chinese lady who came in due to shortness of breath, diagnosed with decompensated chronic cardiac failure secondary to atrial fibrillation. She was ADL-dependent due to an episode of stroke causing right sided weakness 10 years ago.
In layman's term, she had a stroke 10 years ago and have to rely on others to take care of her. She came in because of her heart problems.
As usual, the common questions were asked. It was the point that I asked about her dependence on others that she almost broke in tears. At her age, I can feel her frustration. Not being able to take care of self may seem like a burden for others. Coupled with some children of theirs who think so too, it would only worsen her depression. Fortunately, not all children think so, but the elderly would require emotional support to reassure that they are loved.
I was quick to switch the topic to her grandchildren. She had a few staying in the same house, mostly under 5 years of age. I could see her eyes lit with joy when she talked about them, how grandparents had always look forward to loving their grandchildren, when their own children had gone past the "sticking close to parents" stage. Perhaps, a few minutes chat about them gave back hope about going on. Before I left, I'd wished her to get well soon, so that she could see her grandchildren back at home. At least, she seems agreeable and would have something to look forward to. And I hope that the motivation would keep her going on.
In life, perhaps we as doctors may think we've done a good job by keeping our patients free from disease, but all we do is healing diseases, but we could be lacking of the ability in healing hearts. Somehow, I'd wondered if a holistic approach may be ideal, although hard to practise. At least, we should try if we could.
As usual, the common questions were asked. It was the point that I asked about her dependence on others that she almost broke in tears. At her age, I can feel her frustration. Not being able to take care of self may seem like a burden for others. Coupled with some children of theirs who think so too, it would only worsen her depression. Fortunately, not all children think so, but the elderly would require emotional support to reassure that they are loved.
I was quick to switch the topic to her grandchildren. She had a few staying in the same house, mostly under 5 years of age. I could see her eyes lit with joy when she talked about them, how grandparents had always look forward to loving their grandchildren, when their own children had gone past the "sticking close to parents" stage. Perhaps, a few minutes chat about them gave back hope about going on. Before I left, I'd wished her to get well soon, so that she could see her grandchildren back at home. At least, she seems agreeable and would have something to look forward to. And I hope that the motivation would keep her going on.
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