Define Caring Moment

Joy Brock

Define Caring Moment

Define caring moment late in the evening when the hallways in the hospital are empty. Only hearing the hospital housekeeping personal due their tireless work to shine the floors. Sitting waiting for my next client to be placed in my empty gurney I waited. My client came to me directly from triage jaundiced in appearance and belly as big as a watermelon. Not being able to support his own weight the triage nurse and I assisted him to gurney. His wife looked aged before her time. We struggled to undress him noticing his lower limbs where weeping from the edema. His wife had cut his socks laterally in half to make them semi fit his feet. Attempting to arouse him she kept calling out his name. He responded starring off into the abyss by calling out for her name asking if she was still by his bedside.

An over whelming feeling of reality came to light. My client had been living in the streets with his wife up and till that moment. My thoughts at first where that he was an alcoholic or drug addict living with end stage liver cirrhosis. Drawing my own conclusions on what had landed my client at this late hour into the emergency room. I began to ascertain information on his medical history. My client had acquired hepatitis B from a blood transfusion in the early 80’s. Suffered from sickle cell anemia all his life and had debilitating arthritis that prevented him from working now.

Define Caring Moment Had turned to alcohol as a pain remedy not being able to afford pricy pain prescriptions. Lost his job and family due to illness and the alcohol abuse. Had numerous attempts of attending alcoholic anonymous to stop drinking. Just to fail and resume the alcohol abuse in till he met his new wife. Ironically meeting his new wife at an alcoholic anonymous meeting. Had been married for a few years