#healthynighttalk#
1
Alzheimer’s disease afflicts the health of many older adults through memory loss, dementia, and aphasia. We met Grandma Dong in the neurology clinic.
“Grandma Dong, what did you eat for breakfast today?” In the consultation room, Dr. Qi opened the electronic medical record and was about to enter the content of the consultation, but Grandma Dong’s eyes were blank and she didn’t respond for a long time. It’s completely different from the smiling face she had when she came last time.
While Dr. Qi was checking her memory for Grandma Dong, she suddenly pushed everything on the table to the ground. Grandpa Chen on the side quickly squatted down and picked up everything.
“She’s been in a bad mood recently, she always loses her temper, and she doesn’t know us very well. It’s useless to talk to her over and over again.” Grandpa Chen’s tone was calm, as if he was in It is the same as the firewood, rice, oil and salt in daily life. Dr. Qi deeply understands that the family members of each Alzheimer’s disease patient not only have to take care of the patient’s daily life, but also bear endless trouble and even resentment, and many family members will spend a lot of time in the outpatient clinic. Poured bitter water, but Grandpa Chen was so calm.
2
Dr. Qi decided to admit Grandma Dong to the hospital for further examination and treatment. When asking the family’s opinion, Grandpa Chen’s expression was still calm, but at that moment, I seemed to see his eyes redden. The old couple has been hand in hand for half a century. The children have their own families and careers. They only accompanied Grandma Dong during the first visit to the doctor.
Early the next morning, there was a commotion in the corridors of the neurology ward. Some people commented: “10-bed grandma Dong has to go to work!”
We hurried to the ward and saw Grandma Dong shakily moving and insisting on going out. She kept mumbling to herself: “Where is the person? It’s already 8 o’clock, I should go to shift.”
Memory confusion is also a common symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Grandma Dong may feel like she lives in a previous time and space. These patients are like people left behind by time, more and more alien to the world they have lived in for decades.
3
At noon that day, while he was delivering lunch, Grandpa Chen asked Dr. Qi about Grandma Dong’s condition. Sweat soaked his clothes, and Grandpa Chen was still panting slightly.
After hearing what happened in the morning, Grandpa Chen sighed softly and said, “She was the head nurse before she retired, and she always used her bedroom as a nurse’s station before she was hospitalized. We After persuading and persuading, and talking and talking, then you can understand. As soon as I get to the hospital, I think of the old days again.”
I suddenly realized that this is what Grandma Dong said when she said “turn over at 8 o’clock”. She thought that she was still working in the hospital. Seeing the time passing by and her work not being completed, she was afraid of delaying the doctor’s rounds, so that her mood would change like this.
Recalling Grandma Dong’s impatience and helplessness at the time, I feel sour: Decades of working as a nurse have long been a part of her life.
4
At the end of the conversation, Grandpa Chen was about to leave the office, but suddenly stopped, turned around, rubbed his hands, and asked carefully: “Doctor, my wife still has a cure for this disease. ?”
Dr. Qi was at a loss for words. After a pause, he replied, “We will do our best to delay the progression of the disease and improve her quality of life as much as possible.”
Grandpa Chen understood the meaning behind this sentence, choked up, and said, “We’ve spent most of our lives together, and now I don’t even remember who I am. I also I have no other thoughts, I just want to accompany her to the end.”
The dim light in the hospital corridor illuminated the back of Grandpa Chen staggering away. We instantly felt a deep sense of powerlessness. Even if the doctor has great determination and belief, there is still a limit to what we can do.
Grandma Dong was unfortunate and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in her later years; but she was also fortunate to have Grandpa Chen who had been with her all the time, at least she was not alone on this journey .
On the day Grandma Dong was discharged from the hospital, the old couple cuddled with each other and walked on the boulevard. The afternoon sun shines through the leaves and shines on them… In the face of diseases, what we can do is not only diagnosis and treatment, but also comfort and companionship. In this way, life has breadth, and medicine has temperature.
Source: Narrative Medicine
Author: Zhang Jingchen, Zou Tong, Tian Jing, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University
Planning: Tan Jia Yu Yunxi
Host: Liang Jing
Edit: Yu Yunxi