Thursday, April 30, 2009
Foxholes and ICU's
This was a tough week. I was asked to consult on a patient with with a severe infection. Since it is a Catholic hospital, there is a morning prayer that is said on the PA system each morning. One day on rounds she was spouting off about how the religion is for the weak minded and they needed to shut that D**** prayer off. I asked her what she meant and she said that she didn't need some relgion to tell her what was right or wrong, experience and the world told her what was right and wrong, "those Christians are all hypocrits!". "God was for fools". I kept my thoughts to myself, but could only imagine the irony that she was being taken care of for her IV drug abuse complications by the very people who believe that God wants them to care for all his children. Her endocarditis seeded her lungs the next day with septic emboli. She wasn't going to do well. She was transferred to the ICU. I saw her as the ICU team was getting everything ready to intubate her. She held my hand and with all the breathe she had left asked me to pray for her. I did. Her request were her last words.
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5 comments:
I found your blog by chance while searching out something else. As a healthcare provider I don't think I've ever found anyone more clever than you. Thank you for your posts.
I thought of you earlier today and then I chuckled to myself because who thinks of throckmortons in a Catholic hospital?! Well I guess the ED and radiology depts. get their share of them every now and then.
I thought of you because of this post. I was about to step onto the elevator when I noticed this huge (very nice) wall size Bible scripture etched into black tile with the verse number.
I found it to be comforting/reassuring. I wish I remembered it now. But then I thought of your patient being so angry because they said a prayer overhead and figured seeing this would probably annoy her too and other people.
I've heard her flawed arguments before through commentators in other blogs and they are so old, senseless and misguided.
She was only thinking about her self and not the many people that feel comforted with that prayer.
She said"she didn't need some religion to tell her what was right or wrong, experience and the world told her what was right and wrong, " That is of course true.
When people say this..I wonder if there were people they encountered that misrepresented God and caused them to feel defensive. Or.. if they are defensive on their own because of what they perceive themselves to be doing wrong and then worry about the consequences if they don't believe?
or sadly... did they know holier than thou self righteous people that who judged them by their misguided Christian standards. I don't mean that the Christian standards are misguided but that their interpretation could be misguided.
I think a lot of things are said and done in the name of God.. that God has no part of and then he gets the blame.
Also, fear is behind anger. If you are angry...there is something that you're actually afraid of. (Speaking generally..not you specifically)
"those Christians are all hypocrits!" -whenever I hear that it makes me crazy because no one always does something nor never does anything. And not everyone in 1 group of the population is the same. So..only Christians are hypocrites? I hear people say that in reference to going to church. They don't go because they're all hypocrites there. What they fail to see is that they are human and flawed... a work in progress. Also if they themselves are not hypocrites.. well the church needs them to to provide balance and be an example.
Excuses. All excuses. I also think the anger can come from the fear that there really is a God and they might be rebelling.. because they don't want to change their ways.
And as for the weak minded... better to go for a prayer then the bottle or drugs.
They just don;t understand, they could if they wanted to ... but they closed their faith off.
Interesting about the foxhole and I agree with you.
That was so nice of you to reach to her to comfort her.
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I never researched sepsis, but the idea of *septic emboli seeding her lungs is creepy. Sounds like a serious invasion.
I should've waited until tomorrow because the melatonin I took is causing me to be extremely sleepy now.
Nite.
I accidentally deleted my 1st comment.
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