Growing Old
I was called on to look at a 99 year old female patient She is staying in a charitable institution and is housed with a lot of other elderly women. Once I got there, I saw she was sitting up the best that she could – she was already hunched-back due to osteoporosis. Apparently, she couldn’t sleep lying flat on her back anymore. She was more comfortable sleeping while in her wheelchair. She told me a whole gamut of her complaints – back ache, difficulty of breathing, edema, cough, chest pain – but delivered in an endearing manner. I was told it was her birthday so I greeted her. She said she wasn’t sure she was going to make it for her next birthday because it was getting harder for her each year. I felt so bad since I could only do so much to ease her condition. I hope to see her next year celebrating her birthday. One of those reasons why I didn't last long as an Internal Medicine Pre-resident.