Last night at Stanford Emergency Department, I helped a man in tremendous pain. I saw him standing up by his bed grimacing every minute or so. I asked him if I could help him with something, and he said stopping the pain would be helpful. Unfortunately, I cannot do much to stop the pain except for lending my ear and offering a conversation.
Over the next 30 minutes interrupted by short rounds to see if anything needed my attention, we talked. Turns out he watches football, “Doesn’t everyone.” Actually, I rarely do, but since we are entering the playoffs, my interest is higher than usual, and we talked about Indianapolis’s decision to preserve their star players for the playoffs sacrificing their undefeated season. The Miami Dolphins still own the only undefeated season.
We spoke about his medical issues which I will not divulge to honor his confidentiality. We talked about his life.
Over time he grimaced less often. Eventually, more pain medicine arrived. He didn’t notice a change in the pain, but as an observer, I could see a change in how often he had to stop to tense his jaw and squeeze his eyes. If the quality was the same, the quantity at least was less.
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