I haven't written about my patient I had on Monday. Sometimes I have a hard time making myself sit down and write about my patients because I actually have to think; but, that's the whole point of this blog. For me to write and rememember, right?
Anyway, I fell in love with my patient the moment I met him. Almost 90 year old Navy vet with dementia. I couldn't understand anything he said, but he tried his best to talk to me.
I didn't even mind (that much) that he had explosive diarrhea, over and over again. As always, I felt bad for him. I know it's more difficult for the patient's getting their butts wiped by a stranger than actually doing the butt-wiping. I can't even imagine havin got succomb to someone wiping my rear for me because I am too old/too ill.
Anyway.
I doing my head-to-toe assessment, and as I was checking his heart sounds, he smiled up at me really big and held my face in his hand. My heart melted; so did his daughter's. She said people have a difficult time taking care of him because he is incoherant because of dementia. I think this just makes him more special. People like this take more time, yes, but it's sooo worth it. Relationships with patients like this, most of the time you get out what you put into it.
I loved that sweet old man.
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