shadowed the cardiologist again. Another great day with patient appointments and lots of learning! Still, I can only grasp the medical content up to a certain point, so once I've depleted my relevant Latin prefix knowledge and written down patient history, I get to thinking about other things.
Today I was thinking about the importance of family. With almost every patient came another person, either a daughter or a spouse, who advocated for that patient, asked questions, took notes, and just kept the patient company. There was one man who came in who has a wife with terminal cancer and dementia. It was heartbreaking to hear him describe the stress (which is contributing to his heart problems!) of caring for his wife--they have been married 64 years. 64 years! That is three of my lives so far. Another couple who came in had been married 61 years! Pretty amazing.
It made me realize how much we depend on others, and the vital (literally) importance of maintaining good relationships.
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My grandparents will have been married 64 years next March! Their health and lives are so profoundly intertwined. A couple of years ago, my Grandma fell and broke her hip. Both she AND my Grandpa checked into the rehab center. As my mother said: "If Grandpa were alone at their house, who would pick out his clothes?" (I think my Grandma has selected his clothes for the past 15 years.) At the rehab center, supposedly a luxury facility, my grandparents hoped to "room" together, but each got assigned same-sex roommates, college-style. My Grandma called my Mom and started complaining: "My roommate's such a b*tch!", and then my Grandpa called my Mom from HIS room on the call-waiting and started complaining about HIS roommate and the food! Finally my Mom called the rehab center and got them assigned to the same room for the week. It's crazy how the generations "flip" into each others' roles!
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