Today was a really rough day in the clinic.
I let the entire morning pass by with only one or two charts completed. It usually starts with being behind on one chart...and then it is just a cascade of ugliness thereafter.
It started with my first patient.
An African-American man in his early 60's, he stuck out like a sore thumb at our predominantly Asian clinic. He is one of my favorite patients. He is hesitant to take medications, but he is always willing to try his hardest to modify his lifestyle so that he can achieve certain health outcomes.
He was incarcerated for nearly a decade for assault with a deadly weapon. He was trying to protect his 9-year-old niece from an adult who was trying to harm her.
After his release, he moved to Seattle to work. He was injured on the job and now has chronic ankle pain caused by that accident. This injury eventually cost him the job. He has only been volunteering here and there. Nobody is willing to hire him with his past criminal record and physical limitations. He felt depressed and was having a lot of trouble with insomnia.
I started seeing him shortly after starting my position at the clinic. He is one of my longest standing patient who follows up with me regularly for a variety of chronic conditions. I connected him with our behavioral health team to discuss sleep hygiene initially, hoping that he would continue to follow up with them to explore issues of depression. He did!
He came in to see me yesterday after a few months being away. He was grinning ear to ear. He had ankle surgery in February and he is feeling so much better. All his other chronic conditions are improving, too, including his sleep troubles and depression!
Before the visit ended, I asked if he had any other questions or concerns.
He only said, trying to hold back tears, "I just want to thank you. So many people didn't believe me. But you believed me. You believed I was in real pain. And you tried everything to help me. And now I feel so much better after this surgery! Thank you!"
Some days, I just need a tangible reminder that I love what I do.
I was made to do this...and more.
