"So, the first thing we're going to do is give you 1.5mg of dilaudid in your IV line to get you out of this immediate pain crisis. I already entered the order," I told the patient, crouched at her bedside and holding her hand. She closed her eyes briefly and nodded.
I took her call button and whacked it. We gazed at each other and the unit assistant blared out a "Can I help you?" to which I replied "Yes can we get pain meds please?"
I placed the button back in her hand. "I also placed a consult for our palliative pain team - they will help us get your pain under control with medication. They'll get all the right medications ordered in the right doses so that we keep you comfortable around the clock."
She didn't say a word, just nodded her head imperceptibly. The level of her pain had rendered her immobile and terrified.
I continued, "Then we'll have the anesthesia pain team come by to see if we can do anything surgically, such as a nerve block or epidural. Ok?"
The patient's eyes never left mine, and she nodded slowly once more.
The nurse rolled an IV pole in with the dilaudid and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.
The patient angled her head and crooked her finger at me.
I leaned in.
She licked her dry lips and said weakly, "I... will name... all of my children's children... after you."
And one edge of her mouth drifted upwards as I burst out laughing and kissed her brow.
• • •
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A frum woman and Torah leader has been sending me hundreds of dollars towards my neediest patients, trusting me to direct it as I see fit.
I made the unusual decision yesterday to use some of it towards “naturopathy.”
Hear me out!
You may have seen my despairing posts about a young patient with cervical cancer who fell prey to nonsense theories on alternative medicine to heal cancer
This arrived last night and I already finished it.
A must read for halachic people whose loved ones have a cancer diagnosis.
This covers so many topics in concise and readable language:
1. Cancer screenings: allowed, or actually mandatory? 2. Genetic cancer screening: allowed or mandatory? 3. Common cancer statistics and treatment modalities 4. Preventative surgeries or treatment: allowed or mandatory? 5. Halacha on medicine in general
6. Clinical trials: allowed or forbidden? When? What if you’re healthy and want to contribute to science? 7. Pain medicine: allowed, forbidden, or mandatory? 8. Palliative/hospice care 9. Goseis and end of life 10. DNR and DNI 11. Artificial nutrition 12. Healthcare proxies
If you condemn Israel for Palestinian suffering but you omit Hamas, you might just hate Jews.
If you fault Israel for Palestinian suffering but you omit Qatar’s role, you might just hate Jews.
If you condemn Palestinian suffering but you didn’t condemn the Hamas massacre, you might just hate Jews.
If you condemned Israel for blowing up a hospital and didn’t post a retraction and correction, you might just hate Jews.
If you didn’t condemn Islamic Jihad for their hospital bombing, you might just hate Jews.
If you provide armchair analysis on the most conflicted and contested region in the world without educating yourself on millennia of Jewish sufferings you might just hate Jews.