Poor Mr. V was in the hospital for a total of 21 days, way too long for a liver abscess. But the damn thing wasn't draining as expected and interventional radiology takes several days to take action. Then when the drain is finally pulled, that is when the attending and resident decide to get a CT of his head to look for dental sources for his infection. He was very eager to go home.
It was a great experience practicing my broken Spanish on him. Forming sentences came back very easily to me, but everything was in present tense. I studied Spanish for a total of 5 school years, and have rarely had to use it. I taught a 3rd grader who just immigrated from Mexico how to read in English when I was an undergrad at UNLV, I took vitals on Spanish-speaking patients at Share Ourselves free clinic, and I took care of Mr. V for nearly 3 weeks. For living only in California and Las Vegas my whole life, that's not very much Spanish usage.
Today I said goodbye to Mr. V. After the interpreter and resident left the room, I shook his hand and emphatically said to him, "mucho gusto, senor, mucho gusto." I couldn't help it - I had to hug him. And when I did, he teared up, "thank you, thank you so much." Oh you're very, very welcome Mr. V. It has been a pleasure.
He was the nicest patient. I followed him for almost the whole 21 days. He saw me practically every morning and I was able to communicate to him his medical plan pretty well in Spanish. Seeing him tear up was the cherry on top. It confirmed that he felt the same connection with me that I did with him. That we were both worn down from his 21 days in the hospital, that I genuinely cared about him and treated him with kindness.
He teared up because of our relationship during his 21-day hospital stay. But he also teared up because he was finally getting out of the hospital. The best Spanish words I could think of to end things with were "el fin."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave your name, or at least your initials.