Ghost of Summer, 1988

He was Admission Number Five from the emergency department during the last week of June 1988. I learned of him through the triage resident, who said he was an easy admission, and for an inefficient Day 3 intern like me, he was something like a gift. I was told that he had uremia due to HIV nephropathy but was not a dialysis candidate; however, that brief case summary would fail to convey his full significance for me. I found him supine on a gurney, cachectic and delirious, his brown skin marked by severe eczema – and we were the same age.
Source: The American Journal of Medicine - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Humanities Source Type: research