Richard E. Waltman is a family physician.
My wife, Ruth, passed away in April, and I am currently struggling with the immense loss. I deeply miss her, and for the most part, I feel terrible. I haven’t reached a point of “getting over it.”
Since her death, numerous people, including relatives, friends, acquaintances, and caring individuals throughout my day, have approached me with the same question: How am I doing? Despite multiple attempts to respond, I still haven’t …
I was recently, on two occasions, the recipient of poor care. Care provided by my colleagues. Care that was not good. Care that made me feel sad. Care that did not help me or my patients.
First, I was yelled at by an angry son, who said I had not taken good care of his 89-year-old mother and had “almost killed her.” He told me that information came from the hospitalist, …
A free Wednesday afternoon, time to catch up on charts and paperwork, do a little online CME.
“I’ll see a few walk-ins if anyone comes by,” I told my front office.
A knock on my door sometime later: “A patient for you, Doctor.”
“Send him back,” I said.
He was a well-dressed man in his 30s, a new patient for me.
His story:
“I’ve been having a lot of headaches; sometimes, I feel pressure in my …
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