Ted

My buddy Ted is back in the hospital today. I met him about 2 months ago in the ER. He came in with chest pain and shortness of breath. But unlike the majority of our "over 70" population, he wasn't all grumpy and pathetic. He made jokes and laughed with me. Over the next few days, when I would walk past his room he'd yell out into the hallway, "Jo!! Hey kiddo, how's your day goin'?" While he was with us, I made it a point to bring him a newspaper and chat with him whenever I had some downtime. Eventually he was sent home and it was nice to say goodbye. But then to my surprise, three days later I saw him back in the ER. Again, he was placed in the hospital for another week. He told me that they just needed to get his, "medications right and then everything would be OK". After a week, they sent him home. He was sure that things were better and he'd be home for good. But now he's back, and he looks bad. He won't eat. He is constantly getting blood transfusions. His sparkle has gone. It was terrible to watch him in his bed. There was nothing I could say. I had briefly read through his charts, I knew what was going on. I don't know what Ted's future is, but I certainly wont forget him. For me, he's that one patient...