Dr. Fracture and i had clinic today. it is usually a rewarding experience. there's something about seeing patients get better. we see patients move from significant pain and disability to walking and returning to work. i love it.
then there are encounters like I had today...
the patient needs surgery.
surgery is the hope for a cure. less pain. less fatigue. less medicine.
the surgery means loss. less mobility. less freedom. less of a person in the patient's eyes.
i slid the consent toward the patient. the patient slowly laid the pen down, looked away, and grief poured out. the tears streamed down and dropped like heavy rain drops on the leather jacket. this wasn't about physical pain--it was about grief at the deepest levels of a soul and saying goodbye to life as it always had been.
sometimes the cure is more painful than the disease.
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