Friday afternoon I was invited by my co-worker to hang out with her while she got a patient enrolled in one of the clinical trials going on at our center. One of the enrollment criteria required a "6 minute walk" (6MW) test. This is an important measure for patients with pulmonary hypertension, because they often become out of breath during actitivity, so the farther they can walk in 6 minutes, the better they're doing. It's used in clinical trials and clinical practice as a measure of improvement/worsening.
So this wonderful woman set out on her 6MW in the hallway. We mark each end of the corridor with orange cones, and distance in meters is marked on the walls. I'm at one end, making sure the path stays clear of foot traffic, and the study nurse is at the other. The patient sets off at an impressive clip, carrying her portable oxygen tank with her. Back and forth, doing great. She starts to slow down, gets to my end to rest a moment. Now, we're not supposed to coach or interfere with the walk in any way. But when she looks at me, and I notice she's not really seeing me anymore, and her oxygen tank falls off her arm, I go over to her. Just in time to barely help her slide down the wall into a crumpled heap on the floor. The study nurse is running towards us with the wheelchair, and I can barely hold her up. Anyway, brief drama as I fetch the doctor, and the patient is fine. Just had a "pre-syncopal epidsode". Don't I know it. Having had several recently myself, I get it.
Thankful that I interfered with the 6MW and kept her from totally keeling over. Thankful that I got to talk with the doctor that came to help, I've only spoken with him once or twice since I was hired. And he's funny! I asked later that afternoon him if I could go into his University physician profile to add "pulmonary hypertension" to his list of specialties, and he suggested I also add "male model" and "humanitarian". I quickly replied I had been coming up with a list of things to add to embelish/enhance his profile, and just had been waiting for the "green light".
Sunday took a turn and dropped over 50 degrees and snowed. Still a productive day, re-learning movie editing software I hadn't used in months. Today was also a fine day. During the lunch meeting where I was supposed to show off the changes I had the web-guy make to our website, my supervisor did instead, so I could just hang out. Then the funny doc kept making jokes about his profile picture, that was taken er, awhile ago, and was the only one in black and white. So he looked "pasty", everyone else looked "healthy and vibrant", and finally, what made me laugh quite a bit, that "he looked like one of those Twilight guys". Ha ha haha!!
And this afternoon, while gathering ingredients for the Barefoot Contessa's mocha icebox cake at the grocery (man, mascarpone cheese is expensive), I snoop at the coupons the previous self-checker-outer left behind, I find a $10 off your next grocery trip!!! coupon. So thanks, Coupon-Rejecter, for saving us $10! The Morehouse in me was tickled pink.
And for the record, I *will* be thankful when this wretched, awful wind stops blowing. On my bike ride into 40mph gusts of it, I thought of it as "the devil's breath". Yeah.
ooooh, nekkid cycling-here you go:
ReplyDeletehttp://worldnakedbikeride.org/
i'd pay to see something like that!
"the devil's breath"-that is a marvelous description. hot, unrelenting, enough to singe the hair off your legs.
and, may i add, that's a lovely photo. more of the morehouse in you?
Wind. Ride like the wind, or be blown by it. ...neither is really all that pleasant! But a day without bicycles is like a day without life! And you had a chance to do something remarkable. You made a difference in a life still blowing sparks into the wind. So, there...
ReplyDelete@rraine - I will have to check that website out! Perhaps not while I am at work, on their network...and thanks for the photo compliment! Those are the flowers outside our front gate. It's taken with my "retro camera" app, which I have grown REALLY fond of lately!
ReplyDelete@OKATB - No, riding into the wind is not pleasant at all!! But thanks, for saying that about my attempt to help that woman. If riding into the wind is the worst part of my week (instead of being hospitalized with ultimately, a fatal disease) then I am freaking grateful. Grateful that I can ride at all.
Ha! I am fascinated by the Barefoot Contessa. She draws us in with her quiet voice and effortless expertise, surrounded by that house on the hill and the gardens. And then she whips up something that, if I even licked the beaters, would make my pants explode. I like how she's always cooking a full meal for those gay men down the village, getting the local florist in on putting out some posies as her meal is secretly delivered and . . . man, I want to live in the Hamptons and not care how fat I become.
ReplyDeleteWV - flizz. I told you so.
@LM - I kind of hate it when she says, "how easy was that"? when she's just made something like, impossible. This cake shouldn't be difficult - throw a bunch of ingredients containing mostly fat and sugar into a mixing bowl, add more sugar, then beat until stiff peaks form. Then layer with cookies (ie more fat), and refrigerate overnight.
ReplyDeleteI do like, however, that she's portly, at least. Some of her peers, like Giada, defy belief. Come on, anyone who consumes any food has to look more well-padded than that. At least the Contessa appears real. How easy was that?
ReplyDeleteI respect anyone who works in a hospital. I'm not sure I could do it. I break out into a sweat just driving past one.
ReplyDelete@LM - That is true about Contessa. At least she looks like she eats her food!
ReplyDelete@Kirk - I respect everyone who works in the hospital too. I actually work in a building attached to the hospital via a breezeway, and rarely go over to the clinic. The team I work with though are pretty stellar care-providers.