Doctors are not God. Even if some patients want them to be.

I am not God. Nor do I want to be, but I feel sometimes that my patients and their families do. When I entered the ICU early that overcast morning I knew judging from the throng of anxious people waiting outside that things were not right. He came to me straight away, his eyes haunting and sunken as if he hadn’t slept for the whole night. His body barely able to support itself and even then leaning against his brother’s supporting arms. “Doctor, please, please save my wife, she is in your hands,” he said with tears welling up in those distraught eyes. He was surrounded by equally lost and desperate looking family members as if someone had dealt them a mighty painful blow and they had no idea how to deal with it. I put my arm around him and led him to the chair nearby lest he falls over with grief. I reassured him that I would try my best not knowing exactly what I was promising for I hadn’t even seen the patient as yet. I try to come to the ICU early most days so that I can get a rough idea about how busy things are and make arrangements for discharges to accommodate a new batch of patients. The on-call team then hands over the overnight admissions. However, on this instance, I grabbed the on-call medical officer and straight away rushed to his wife’s room. She was beautiful and apart from the tube in her mouth for the breathing machine she looked as if she was in a peaceful slumber. She must have been in her forties; I knew she had kids, as I had seen from the co...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Intensive care Source Type: blogs