My neuro-surgical patients

It's been some time since my last post. I have been busy these last 2 months with my university applications.
I got lucky and received a slot in Heidelberg for molecular biotechnology :)

I want to share some funny, touching, and interesting instances lately that happened in our station and patients.

For the sake of confidentiality, I will be using different names as references.

Instance 1:

I had a patient, Mrs. Bend, her original diagnosis was cervical stenosis. Before she was operated, she could still walk, and talk, and eat and move independently. She is also a drug abuser. It was found out that she also has Hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis.

She was operated and after that she had a problem with wound healing. Then she had operation # 2. After that, she developed tetra/paraplegia. She could not move anything anymore except her mouth and eyes, luckily, she could still talk.

She was very friendly, and nice. And it'S quite sad really, because it was found out that she had end-stage liver disease and that the internal med. station was not very willing to accept her because she was already medically ''hopeless''. She had a terrible case of ascites that her bed kept getting wet because of the fluid that was already ''leaking'' out of her peritoneum.

I saw her slowly dying every single day. And her partner visited her everyday and brought her fruits. Whenever I was with her, I saw to it that she always got what she needed. She was always thirtsy (of course) and I always gave her extra fruits in her mouth (grapes and Mirabellen coz they're bite size). Gave her comfort although I didnt have enough time because of my other patients. I know that not all nurses in my station do that. They work good, but they're only doing what ''they have to do''. They almost never bother to cross the line and go the extra distance. I am not trying to be a hypocrite, but I think that's one quality that sets Filipino nurses apart from the others.

Instance #2 :

Mrs. Conan, an asian/middle-eastern woman, was found unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood.
It turns  out, she tried to leave her husband and he got terribly mad at her.
He used an iron rod to hit her in the head until she was dead. He got her frontal, left parietal, occipital areas, with cranial fractures that caused severe brain bleeding and damage, and air got in her duras.
She also has a broken left arm and a broken right index finger (it was split into 2).

Apparently, the man thought she was already dead and stopped. But actually, she still lives.
After that incident, only a few number of family on the woman's side were allowed in.
Even her own sohns were not allowed inside by her daughter for fear of ''finishing their father's job''.

I am not prejudiced towards other nations and beliefs, but I am saddened by the fact that women are still treated horribly and unfairly even in very modern societies.

This is a sad case, but I am glad to share with you that Mrs. Conan survived and is doing well in a rehabilitation clinin to this day. Her man is facing trials.


Instance #3:

Mrs. Guerde, is a healthy woman of around 65, who is divorced and remarried a man in Africa. She has a son from her first german husband, and he visits and takes care of her everyday.

Mrs. G. originally experienced stiff necks after work and no other symptoms. Further diagnostical procedures revealed that she had an undefined and unclear mass in her occipital lobe and it needed to be operated.

She was admitted , and our surgical doctors tried to take out that mass. The problem was, upon opening, they did not find a mass, but instead, a dying, necrotic part of the brain!

Further tests after the operation revealed that she has Toxoplasmosis. It is a disease that can be carried by rhodents and cats. It can normally be fought off by our immune system and it usually remains to be asymptomatic in healthy people.

In her rare case, she got this because she incidentally has HIV. The family was of course quite shocked with the news.

With cases of immune system-depressed people, toxoplasmosis can cause severe damage.
In her case, she became blind, and disoriented and very agressive.
She kept on trying to run away and she kept on complaining why all the lights are off. She didnt recognize her family anymore but she still had her early memories.
This is also a sad case because this woman was so sick, that she could not understand why she can't see anything or why, we have to bind her in bed (otherwise she's run away, and since she's blind, this was for her own safety).

The last I heard of her, I endorsed her to another station because of her HIV,she could not stay with  us anymore since her neuro-surgical case was ''treated''.


So those are some of my day-to-day patient experiences.
I am sure that as nurses, we encounter a lot of these cases everyday. Some may even be worse than these.
The important thing is to remain professional, yet try to care for the patients with a heart and with our Filipino values.


Remember that not because the others are not going the extra mile, does not mean that we have to follow them and be ''robot'' nurses as well.

These patients are also humans like us, and like us, they also had interesting lives and they thought and moved the way we do.
Always treat people like the way we all should be treated.
There is no 'ideal' world. But at least, in your own way, even if no one sees, treat your patients in the most 'ideal' way that you can think of. in the 'ideal' world, think of what the 'ideal filipino nurses' would do.

Goodluck!