Indexing Title: NALUDINOs Medical Anecdotal Report [07-01]

MAR Title: Treating the Person

Date of Medical Observation: December 2006

Narration:

While on duty at the emergency room, the occasional wail of an ambulance siren or the blaring of a vehicle’s horn tells us that there is an emergency case arriving. That night would prove to be no different. A man in his 50s was wheeled to the Surgery-Trauma Complex of the emergency room. He was transferred from Ospital ng Sampaloc. 

This man was apparently in respiratory distress. His wound dressings were soaked. Closer examination revealed that the man had a gaping laceration on the left side of his neck. We decided to operate on the patient. We were able to control the bleeding. The operation was successful.

The injury was self inflicted, as his mother would later claim.  She said that he decided to end his life because he could no longer endure his illness. He was suffering from a severe case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 

At the ward, the operative site was healing well. The patient however was not. He was constantly in respiratory distress. No amount of therapeutic intervention was able to relieve him of his suffering. The patient seemed to have lost the will to fight. He no longer wanted to live. After about five days, his suffering finally ended. He went on to meet his creator.

Insights (Physical, Psychosocial, Ethical) (Discovery, Stimulus, Reinforcements):

Have we lost the fight even before it has started? Was he a lost cause? Did we just prolong his suffering by saving him from his injuries? Are we obliged, because of our oath to save him even if he himself does not want to be saved?

We do what we can to treat a patient. Our creator has given us the abilities to help those on need. Although we may see ourselves as instruments of the Lord, we do have our limitations. We try to treat the person not just the disease. In our patient, we tried to treat the patient the best we could. His injuries were controlled and he was good as new. However, we failed to address the underlying cause of his problem. Aside from the obvious medical support, We should have been able to provide him with psychosocial support. He was suffering from an illness which eventually brought him to his knees. He has already lost the will to fight, the will to go on.