Greetings from Doc Judie
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
The client I should have "said no to" but didn't.
Greetings from Doc Judie
This is what COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) looks like...smokers, take a long hard look at the color of the lungs (which are usually pink)
Now translate this to a very kind man fighting for his life that showed up at my office, begging for help.
he said "he wanted to cut down on his smoking, as his doctor said it would be a good idea since he was having a little trouble breathing. He also wanted to lose a few pounds. I think he knew I would not see him if he really told me how bad his health condition really was.
My office is down a driveway, a little studio about 150 feet from the parking area. I met a man who was close to 400 lbs with portable oxygen. It took 4 rest stops and 20 minutes to get him into my treatment room. I could tell by his size and his difficulty in breathing that I could not use the recliner, but had to keep him upright. I asked him both in the driveway, and again in the room if he really wanted to go through with the procedure, and that if it was too difficult to talk, we could stop at any time.
I was feeling 'out of my comfort zone" and that this was way over my head, my skills did not allow me to treat anyone so severely impaired with COPD cormorbidy (obesity, asthma,and smoking). His comments changed my mind. I stopped worrying about him "breaking my recliner, falling in the driveway or even dying from the stress of walking and moving around. He was desperate, the VA had given up on him and he had to do something. I can't tell you how to run your practice, or who to turn to for treatment.With my training I would have turned him back on the phone interview, but in person, I saw his spark of hope and I was honored to help him. He used to be very active, hard working in lumber camps and a mechanic on heavy machinery. About 10 years ago, from heavy smoking, his lungs started to give out but he continued to smoke. Now on full disability, he was denied a bipass operation because they did not think he would make it. So I started unraveling his story. He would not tell me much and made light of any problems in his life (much like the phone conversation) I continued to push for answers, looking for a trigger that changed him 10 years ago...his breathing became so labored that we had to stop for a few minutes. He blurted it out that his son committed suicide. He was eating and smoking himself to death as a way of dealing with unresolved grief. I had to keep my questions short, and in a nutshell I asked him if "he wanted to live, what was he willing to do to change his life, what was he willing to give up to live?" I asked him to just think about it and answer after
the session. I know from hospital work that you cannot overtax a patient, and the session is best kept short. In the case of this desperate man, usual scripts such as "take a deep breathe and breathe deep and slow" were not appropriate he was gasping for air. I took him through the relaxation process very slowly, monitoring his breathing. When it stabilized, I gave him the suggestions that the cigarette was his henchmen coming from him. He was determined that it was not his time and he wanted to live, he would find the strength to keep his mouth closed and not allow the henchmen to go into his lungs. He had the power to do this.I knew I could not take the damage away from his lungs that was already there, but I asked him to think of all the things he could do to preserve his great spirit that made him drive several miles to my clinic. I was not sure how the session went, but at the end he said he wanted to swim and do water exercises. He cooks his own food and was willing to cut down on the portions (he actually ate fairly balanced meals..just too much and no exercise) Also he was suffering from all the steroids that he had to take. He said "I smoked my last cigarette, it is not my time-there are grandchildren I never met).
I don't have a happy ending to this story, but it is a story of hope even when all the doors are slammed shut. Who am I and who are the doctors to tell this man that he is going to die on a certain date? and who was I to deny him? He was fighting for his life, and it was an honor for me to help him.
I'll let you know if he calls me in a couple of weeks.
Here is to your impossible situations, the clients you don't give up on and the spark of life that continues to flicker against all odds-it is called hope.
Doc Judie
judie@docjudie.com
775 782-3889
Comments
Post has no comments.