I Had One Of Those Great Moments Today: Tales From Healthcare

Every once in a while we have some seriously great moments working in healthcare. One of those happened to me today. Due to our laws, I can not use the patient's real name, but I can describe what I witnessed.

So as many of you know, my day job is working in Physical Therapy in the home health setting. That means I drive around the city, go to people's houses and encourage them to do movements they don't want to do.

Two weeks ago, a new name popped on my work tablet. I made the call to schedule and read the patient notes. Diagnosis: Mantle Cell Lymphoma with Hemorrhage, Right Side Neglect, Generalized Weakness, and Dysphagia

Uh oh. My first thought is that this person has no business being home and should be in a hospital setting.

My first visit confirmed that thought. He couldn't move without Max Assist, which pretty much means that I have to provide all of the strength to move him, even though he is trying. The first day was JUST working on rolling in bed so that his caregivers could clean him. He couldn't really talk although he tried extremely hard. But there was one thing to hold on to, he was TRYING. That can sometimes go further than you would think.

The caregiver told me that even though they were scheduled for two visits per week, they can only do one due to radiation appointments and other doctor vists. That is sometimes a red flag that we're going to be spinning our wheels with a patient and they won't improve.

Last week, I saw him for our second visit. He was better. He was able to help more than the first visit, but still required Max Assist. But we made some progress that we were able to get him sitting up in a wheelchair.

Again only one visit last week and asked for only one this week.

Today was that visit.

I pulled up early this morning, and honestly was dreading have to do manual transfers without the coffee properly running through my veins. I rang the doorbell and waited. The caregiver's face popped the door open and asked me to wait while she put the dogs out in the yard. A few minutes later, the door opened again. And there was my patient, up and walking on his own power!

It took me a second or two to even register that it was him!

My jaw hit the ground, and after a few minutes of happy talk, I asked him what he wanted to do. He wanted to go for a walk outside.

So today, I went for a nice LONG walk outside and had a great conversation with a guy that couldn't even move his mouth properly just 12 days earlier.

As the session finished up, and I repeated how awesome he's doing, he just said "You told me that I could do this, and I believed you".

It's days like this why I like working in our broken healthcare system. While insurance companies suck, I still get those moments when you know you've genuinely helped someone. When they look you in the eye and thank you for it, there's not a better feeling in the world.