Mr. Smith
Mr. Smith is a patient that I took care of during my third year. This is his story.
Mr. Smith was a tall, grandfatherly seventy-two year old with a genteel Southern drawl. He was a former Navy man who worked in the shipyards for twenty-five years, building submarines. He also loved gardening, his fluffy Pomeranian dog named Bobo, and telling tall tales. During his hospitalization, I discovered that he possessed a stoicism and quiet courage that I have rarely seen.
He came in with a five-week history of progressively worsening shortness of breath and dyspnea on exertion. He could no longer bend over to tie his shoes nor walk Bobo to the mailbox. On radiography, he was found to have a massive pleural effusion; so he was admitted and had a chest tube put in.
We drained over two liters of bloody fluid from his chest. Continue reading ‘Mr. Smith’
Tags: creative writing, experiences