What happens when the doctor becomes the patient? Is there anything learned or reinforced? For me, it was a life-changing experience both personally and professionally when I became the patient.
My story began on New Year’s Eve. I had been feeling dizzy associated with some chest pain and was scheduled to have a stress echo at my local hospital to make sure all was OK (of course it would be OK, I was always a medical optimist!). As the stress echo reached its highest level, I started to feel very dizzy, and I went into ventricular tachycardia, which caused quite a stir as I was whisked off to the emergency department from the stress echo area.
The vulnerability of the hospital bed
But that is not really the point of this life-altering event. It was not about the hours spent in the emergency department on a cardiac monitor. It was not about the transfer to Yale and the many tests that followed. It was not about spending New Year’s Day in the telemetry unit. It was about the people I encountered every step of the way that made the difference in my care.
Sometimes, as doctors, we do not imagine being the patient or how we might handle it. We do not, as we visit our patients in the hospital, usually picture ourselves in the bed. I have always tried to offer the utmost care and concern to and for my patients. I always strived to diagnose and treat them in an excellent, compassionate manner. But I did not always think about the worry that just comes with being alone in a hospital bed, the loss of control over the situation, the utterly helpless feeling that might come when you are the patient in a medical emergency.
The power of the entire care team
What I have since learned from my experience is who we might count on during those circumstances. Every person who enters your hospital room, the nurses, the doctors, the aides, the orderlies, every one of them can make a difference and change your experience. They all play a powerful role in keeping you calm and feeling less alone.
A caring smile can make all the difference. A nurse’s aide going out of their way to find out if you can take a shower. Or an orderly getting your food order called in quickly before the dining room closes when you have not eaten all day. A nurse making every effort to reach the doctor on New Year’s Day to make sure every one of your questions is answered. A doctor telling you first and foremost that you are going to be OK, and he will do everything in his power to make sure you really will be.
This is medicine. This is health care. I know, the medical training needs to be there, you must know how to treat a heart arrhythmia, you must know the side effects of the medication and how to read an EKG, all that goes without saying. But what made the difference for me was the caring people along the way. Let us all never forget in medicine and in life that is what really makes the difference.
Loretta Cody is a pediatrician.
