Heaven is.....

...sitting in an airconditioned room watching your cat chase a piece of lint.



How do you say "I'm sorry but we are letting your mother die" in any other way but that?

We had a patient who was admitted since about one month ago. She had been bed bound for the past 3 months and had developed massive ulcers over her buttocks. Any doctor would know, 'bed bound' - isn't a good thing to hear when it comes to actively resuscitating your patients.

We dressed her wounds, and at one point she seemed better. But she succumbed late last night, passing quietly in her sleep.

She started to deteriorate earlier that morning - and I knew what we were going to say to her isn't what I would want to hear from a doctor who is treating a member of my family.

You may lace it any way you want, but I know what I will understand is that you are giving up on that patient. You are saying that this patient's life isn't worth saving just because she is old, and she has gazillions of things wrong with her.

I find myself saying this to the patient's daughter, and I am reminded of how unfair life can be.