Saturday, May 23, 2009

Homesick and a Patient's Course

Sometimes, as I start to write a new blog post, I wonder if I'm not just saying the same few things over and over. I hope not. However, I try not to go back to reread my posts, as I'm sure I'd be aghast at what I've written and vow to never blog again. As it stands, I will keep writing and naively think that what I'm saying is having an impact on people. :)

I was recently back in the Midwest for a wedding. It was a college friend, and it was a lot of fun. It really made me miss the Midwest. Now, it's not perfect back home, but I miss the simplicity of life there. I also miss seeing my siblings. I'm jealous of people who can drive 20 minutes and hang out with their brother or sister. Not that moving back home would allow me to see them more (since they are equally spread out), but I'd at least be in the same time zone. Well, close to the same time zone.

Fortunately, I'll see everyone in July which will be awesome. I can't wait.

To add a medical side to this post, I saw a patient recently who is HIV+. She is close to 50 and really rebelled against taking any medications for a long time. She weighs about 75lb. Her daughter brings her to clinic every week so we can check on her. We often get frustrated at patients who so blatantly refuse life-saving treatment. I wonder what her daughter goes through. Is she frustrated with her mom's condition, is she tired of spending her entire Thursday at our county clinic? Is she the driving force behind her mom now staying adherent to the regimen? Next time, I think I'll ask her how she's doing. I'm sure her role as care taker is stressful, and we doctors don't do enough to recognize that.

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