Tales From Healthcare: Reflections On Patients That Have Had An Imp...

Note: The names have been changed to protect their identity

Today I want to tell you about Carter

Carter and I did not initially hit it off very well.

He was a very sick man and required both PT and OT to work with him at the same time. He was crabby, he was mean, and he didn't want to do what we asked.

This is quite common in therapy in nursing homes, the people don't want to be there, and they feel like they're being prodded on all day. Each day we would go in, and each day he would be even crabbier.

One day when I was walking past his room, he called for me to come in. He was nearly out of his bed on the floor. Since he was a recent AKA (Above Knee Amputee) he didn't have the strength or leverage to get back in bed properly. I helped him all the while being ready to get yelled at for something.

But it didn't happen. Instead he thanked me for all of the help I had given him. He said to me "If it wasn't for you, I would have strangled that OT B**ch a long time ago.

Then it hit me. It wasn't him, it was a personality conflict with her. (Which wasn't uncommon, truth be told). We quickly changed up the team, and Carter was actually quite a pleasure to work with. His motivation and his strength improved.

It improved so much that he was given Doctor's orders to receive a prosthetic leg, and start to learn how to walk with it.

For 3 months, I worked with Carter almost every day to get him back on his feet. We got him to where he could walk with a walker and his new leg, and he was thrilled.

And then, insurance decided that they were done paying for him. This is the dark side of health care. Insurance companies have the final say on when treatment is completed. So, with that, Carter became a permanent resident of the nursing home and was moved off of the therapy wing.

Many months passed, and every time I walked past his room, I was greeted with "Hey, Shane!" I always stopped and at least poked my head in to say hi, and when I could, I'd go in and chat for 10 minutes or so. Every day.

"Hey Shane!"

Then one Monday I walked past and there was no "Hey, Shane!" from the room. It took me by surprise and when I looked in, the bed was cleared off and Carter's belongings were in a box.

My heart sank. This was never good news.

The nurses confirmed that after I left for the weekend, all of Carter's problems caught up with him and he passed away after coding.

Tuesday morning, we would have the group meetings. My boss announced Carter's passing and said she had something for me. Apparently, during the last few weeks, he knew he was close to dying and asked the nurses to give me his prosthetic leg. He was a funny man, and this both cracks me up to no end, and crushes my heart.

So sitting in the corner of my office at home is Carter's prosthetic leg.