How Can I Help? by David Goldbloom

Author:David Goldbloom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone

I GO TO THE NURSING station to make sure there is a bed arranged for Georges in the ACU. As Tish looks through the messages on the desk to see if the ACU staff have confirmed when he can go upstairs, she casually lobs a curve ball into my well-constructed psychological defenses.

“How is your mother?” she asks. “She is such an amazing woman.”

My mother is known throughout Cape Breton and most of Nova Scotia as the woman who almost single-handedly raised money for the creation of Pier 21, originally a local museum to honor the site where millions of immigrants first touched Canadian soil as they got off boats to find a new life. It is now a national museum honoring all immigrants to Canada.

I hear myself telling Tish that my mother is fine. Once the words are out of my mouth, I am paralyzed, unsure whether to explain or simply to leave them there, putting a distance between me and this kind woman who has known me for almost a decade.

Before I can decide whether to change my story, Tish tells me that now Georges is settled, Luana is the most urgent patient to be seen. First, however, Tish and I agree that I should call Henri because I need to catch him during daylight hours in Belgium.

I am fortunate. Henri responds immediately to the cell phone number I have for him. We speak in French. He is deeply apologetic on his brother’s behalf. I know from my previous contact with Henri and other family members that they do not fully understand Georges’ illness (and to be fair to them, who does?) and are ashamed at the havoc he causes when ill.

I reassure Henri that we are happy to help Georges, and more important, that we do not expect Henri to fly to Toronto. He has a family and a job, and dropping everything to come to see his brother, despite what has historically been a close relationship between the two men, is simply not always feasible. I review with Henri my proposed treatment plan for Georges: admission, restart antipsychotic medication, make sure he is eating and drinking, and reconnect him with his community treatment team. We have had this discussion many times before.

There is a moment of silence on the other end of the phone after Henri agrees to the plan.

“Doctor, is there a way we can force him to take the medication once he leaves the hospital? He always tells me he will take it when he is well, but then when he starts to have symptoms and the voices tell him he cannot trust the people who give him the medicine, he changes his mind. I hope I am doing the right thing by pushing this, but I cannot bear hearing that he is ill again, and police are involved. The medicine must be better than this, than the handcuffs, and being tied up.”

I explain that I am in the ER with more patients to see and will call him later in the week to talk as the answer to his question is complicated.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.