Indexing Title:BCDEVEZA’s Medical Anecdotal Report [ 05 – 7]
MAR Title:Mother and Child
Date of Medical Observation: July 2005
Narration
Mothers, as they say, are the greatest persons in the world because of the role they have in the family. Not only do they look after the needs of their children but they also provide a different kind of care. A care that every child looks forward to specially in times of great need and dire situations. In one of our tour of duties, G.V., a 20 year old male was referred to our team by Internal Medicine for CTT on the right secondary to a pneumothorax. He was diagnosed to have Chronic Kidney Disease stage V secondary to Chronic Glomerulonephritis in Uremia. An IJ catheter was inserted to have access for emergency hemodialysis. And so, I asked the clerk to prepare the materials needed for the procedure and to secure the consent. After a few minutes, I was informed that its complete. I went up to the ICU and upon entering, I could hear the sound of a crying lady. Little did I know that she was the mother of the patient referred to me. I approached her and explained the procedure that I was about to do. And she said, “Naintindihan ko na po ang gagawin niyo at pumirma na po ako.” As she left the room, my attention shifted to the patient. He was intubated and was in coma. I could only imagine the pain his mother is bearing at that very moment. I started the CTT and thank God, it went smoothly until my last application of the leucoplast tape. I called for the mother. She was still crying. The only thing that I was able to tell her at that time was, “Magiging maayos din po ang lahat.:We made our rounds the following day. He was not intubated anymore and you could see a very big improvement in his condition. As expected, I saw his mother at his side. After 3 days, we decided to remove the chest tube since his chest x-ray showed a fully expanded right lung. One afternoon, I decided to pass by the ICU, for no apparent reason. There, I chanced upon the mother and child, praying together with their hands holding one another. I could only stare and treasure that sight. When the mother noticed that I was there, she asked me to come forward. And she said to his son, “Siya ang isa sa mga doktor na tumulong sa yo totoy.” As I was about to say a word, he extended his hand and held my hand with a firm grasp. I was not able to say anything anymore because I became teary eyed.
Insights (Physical, Psychosocial, Ethical) (Discovery, Stimulus, Reinforcements):
Saving one’s life in whatever manner is perhaps one of the fulfillments of a doctor. Seeing your patients improve, specially from a very bad condition, is an achievement worth remembering.
I just became a witness to this through my patient. But more importantly, it is the power of prayer that we should always remember.Our abilities are not enough to decide for the fate of our patients. There is a Higher power that has the ultimate authority and judgment in everything that we do. We are but medium of His healing hands.
Coupled with these, we must recognize and always remember the worth of our mothers in our lives.Without their caring and guiding hands, we will be nomads in this world.
God purposely created the MOTHER and CHILD to be together. And I think it should always stay that way.