End of Life Care: Does it ever get easier?

May 9, 2011 was the first day of my third year of medical school, first day on the cardiology inpatient service, and the first day I met Ms. W, my first patient. Ms. W was a 77 year old woman with COPD, right-sided heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and was in the ICU for ARDS due to spontaneous hemorrhage of unknown etiology. Because taking care of Ms. W would be challenging and overwhelming, my senior resident and I walked into Ms. W’s room together for introductions.

I naively expected to see a charming elderly lady who was just a little short of breath. However, one could argue that formal introductions were not needed because Ms. W likely never even knew we had walked into her room—she was on a ventilator and thus was heavily sedated. Nevertheless, Ms. W was very much present. Her gray hair was pulled back in a high loose ponytail, her hands were warm and her head bobbed up and down with each breath. She would inconsistently raise her eyebrows at the sound of her name and her tongue would slide towards whichever side her body was turned on. Despite the lack of any form of acknowledgment at our first meeting, Ms. W made a significant impression on me because just fifteen years earlier, my grandmother, who was 77 years old, was also in the ICU heavily sedated and dependent on a ventilator...

Go to the IHI Open School Blog to read the full post!