9.14.2012

Frequent Flyer

As he's moved over to the stretcher, he complains of chest pain 'just like his past MI'. Sweet! Admit! says my inside voice. To be perfectly honest, at 3 in the morning, the rest of the history is window dressing. Hypertensive. Then he adds on. On dialysis, missed the last 'couple'. And he fell down nine stairs, with a bump on the head. And he's on coumadin due to a prior PE.

I was already done, now I'm even more so; when I go to his chart to look at his history, though, the true story emerges. Every four days, he has a discharge summary; each one essentially the same. Came to ED, needed dialysis, admitted, dialyzed, sent home.

These are the people that are eventually easier to just buy an apartment and a social worker for. Each of these visits gets billed out, each time labs are drawn, IV meds given. Reminds me of someone getting their liver eaten and then pushing a rock up a hill...

No comments:

Post a Comment