'My 6 year old must be an angel'
A patient of mine with multiple sclerosis. Lives alone and has some care giver who helps him. It was going to be my daughter's 6th birthday party, as I mentioned that he had a big smile on his face and said' she sure must be an angel, Have fun at the party'. He couldn't stop talking about his 5.5 yr old son with cerebral palsy who died after struggling from multiple medical complications. Because of a disabled kid at home, wife turned to drugs and they ended up divorced. He paid a substantial amount to get custody of his 2 kids. after the divorce, his younger son died. He took care of his only son and raised him alone. While talking this story his words which hurt me most was' The pain of losing a kid is the greatest. The pain I am going through right now is nothing compared to that'. I had to struggle to stop tears coming to my eyes, coz I was sure that it would make him sad as well. Now I know why he said ' that my 6 year old must be an angel".

Quote from one of my patients: ' Who said that life will be easy? But it's worthwhile to have challenges'. This patient of mine has severe arthritis and is progressively becoming so weak due to pain that she is becoming dependent with transfers and is getting wheelchair dependent. We are trying hard to keep her mobile. sometimes she loses hope and said' sometimes I feel that if God loves me then Why does he give me so much pain?" but then she repeats the above quote. Today morning she was weak and could hardly move in bed, few words of encouragement made her walk 50 feet... She definitely won today's race. She will see what tomorrow has in stored for her.

#2: patient who was as independent as any of us was made WC bound when he had his hip fractured. He needed 2 people assist to move him. We started working on him,, taking each day as it comes. in 1 week he progressed well and is now walking with assistance. He was ecstatic as he never thought he will walk again. Had a good feeling on my way home thinking about different challenges people face everyday.

A wheelchair bound patient who has frequent bladder infection and now need to use urinary bag which needs to be attached to abdomen/ leg under her clothing. Patient used to use belly bag and has ran out of those bags and niece ordered the small bags which needs to be attached to the leg. Patient had difficulty with walking/ moving the leg as it pulled on to the catheter and caused pain. Patient was told by DME supplier that the belly bags were discontinued and is no longer available. I looked it up online and they were available at few places. Hearing this news the patient started smiling. was full of joy. She started praying to her lord, in her words," My lord, Thank you for sending my PT today and thank you for providing me with the urinary bag.. giving me hope and letting me know that you are always there with me'.
Niece called back after I left, happy and stating that very few people can make her aunt happy and smile and I was one of them. That surely had a smile on my face.

God helps those who help others

Met a retired social worker who lives alone and was hospitalized recently following ulcerative colitis. Patient used to receive meals on wheels for food, however after her recent hospitalization she is restricted in the type of food she can eat so she cancelled her meals on wheels service. Meals on wheels is a non-profit organization who assists elderly people who can't prepare food or doesn't have a reliable source of either friends/ family who can help manage patient's meals. In spite of knowing that meals on wheels have a waiting list and knowing that once if she cancels there is a possibility that she may have to wait for a while before she will be enrolled again. She said" Being a social worker,  I have seen so many homeless and poor people and have seen what food means to a lot of them. When I know that I am not going to eat the food which meals on wheels deliver, it will be wrong for me to continue the service when I know same meal can benefit another needy person. There is somebody who will value this food more than me at this time.' Today she is not driving and she relies on her friend who assist with getting grocery. I offered help and she gladly accepted it. I felt proud to be of a help to a person who has high moral value. I drove myself to HEB and bought her yogurt/ Bread/ grocery items which will last for 1-2 weeks. She was happy and couldn't thank me enough. I responded that good things happens to good people, all her life she has helped people who were in need so God will make sure that there is somebody who is there for her now that she needs somebody.

Small challenges we face in our daily life is nothing as compared to huge calamities few of us are facing. My everyday experiences with my patients just makes these beliefs stronger. Met an amazing couple, with husband being a 42 yr old paraplegic. Living way beyond their means, still not wanting to accept help from others coz even though they do not have any money or good health they have each other. Wife waking up every 2 hrs at night to change his position so that he doesn't develop any pressure sore is what I call LOVE. Eyes were filled with tears and heart with joy for they have rediscovered true love in midst of this hardship.

94 yr old patient of mine. Sweet as she can be, who lives alone and still manage to get by with severe leg pain that she can hardly walk. Room was packed with boxes of toys and candies which she is preparing to gift for christmas to kids( Homeles and disabled). Love to meet such wonderful souls.

Peace and Love in Heart, Peace and Love at Home, Peace and Love in the world!!! May Peace and Love prevail..
Met a lovely couple... 70 yr old wife with Alzheimer's, can't even recognize her husband/ kids. Thinks husband is a stranger and her brain stuck at 1 day 40 years ago where she feels her kids has gone to school and she is waiting for her husband to come back home for dinner... Husband who is taking care of her for past 10 years is still hopeful that she will recognize him someday.. This is LOVE!!!

Recipe of Love and commitment

 

One of my patients is a born cook and loves watching Food network. she loved to try new recipes and enjoy them with her husband. She suffered a major stroke is wheelchair bound and unable to cook at all now. Husband did not give up on her or her love for cooking. Now they both watch food network and husband prepares the recipes she would like to try and they still continue to enjoy them.

Just came to know that one of my former patients who was a IRAQ war veteran and had traumatic brain injury. Patient who basically was comatose and was able to respond only to wife's commands, started taking few steps after 5 months of aggressive PT....he is recovering and I know that GOD do sometimes show his presence in some form or other.. The news totally made my day:)

The circle of life
Met a 85 yr old patient with Parkinson’s who is bed ridden. Patient has a big beautiful handmade portrait of himself and his wife when they were young opposite his bed where he stays all day and night. He remembers his wife very fondly which is evident on how he strikes a conversation involving her almost every 5 minutes. Patient’s wife died at the age of 42 after fighting cancer X 1 year. Patient has 1 daughter and a son. They met when they were babies. He was 3 and she was 2. They lived on the same avenue and how they grew up together, fell in love and got married. They visited over 50 countries and loved to travel. As per him, Life was perfect till the day she was diagnosed with cancer. He feels that ‘ She was the best woman in the whole world”. Friends and family asked him to move on and to get married again. He said’ Why settle for anything less than the best? , the best is no more. He had young kids and did not want to divide the love and attention. He was there for them 100% when they needed him the most. Patient mentioned to me that he lost 60 family members in the holocaust and feels that blessed are people who have nice intact family. He sure did his duty as a Great father and now his kids are taking care of him when he needs them the most. I guess this is the circle of life.

Heavenly Agreement
I wanted to order a medical equipment for a patient who needed it but he showed hesitancy due to financial concerns. I went ahead and ordered it for him not expecting him to pay. I told him to try it out and see if it helps him. It sure did help him. Next time when I went to visit him he was waiting to pay me back the amount in full. I told him that it was not needed. He said, ‘ You were kind enough to order it for me. This is not between you and me anymore. I have an agreement with my lord that I will do the right thing till the end and I do not want to break this agreement during the final phase of my life.’

A Smile that made my day:

45 yr old male with amyotropic lateral sclerosis which is a disease which affects our nervous syetm made this young patient of mine totally dependent and wheelchair bound for last 2 years. He has his neck muscles affected as well so bad that he can’t even hold his head up. He needed a splint to keep head straight so that he can look at you. His speech affected so much so... that only his wife can understand it. It is amazing how love can overcome all obstacles no matter how big they are. We got a standing frame which is an equipment which once attached to the patient’s body can pull him up to a standing position. Patient was all excited about it, as soon as we made him assume a standing position a big happy smile came to his face. He couldn’t stop smiling. Wife stated’ He is smiling..he is smiling that means he likes it’. Patient said to his wife in slurred speech ‘ I can feel the blood going down my legs, I can feel my legs now”. He was standing after 2 years and was so excited that he said that he can stand for hours. However we wanted to progress slow so we needed to lower his body down back to the chair in 20 mins. He has 2 teenage daughters and he told his wife ‘ now I can talk eye to eye with my daughters and he wanted to surprise them later when they came back home. It is amazing how small things in life matters so much to few of us. So Thank god every day for all he has given and stop complaining about minor things he has not given us.