Snapshots of Joy
by DAVID DAGEFORDE , MD
My cousin in Nebraska grasped his wrist in pain walking into his farmhouse . I immediately knew the diagnosis of his injury . I offered to drive him to the rural hospital . His general practitioner , 72 years old , walked into the exam room , and I blurted out , “ I am a fourth-year medical student , and the diagnosis is Colles fracture of the wrist .” I was impressed with myself ; however , I was put in my place when the doctor said , “ Well , son , do you want to set the bones or do you want me to do it ?” I had no choice but to answer , “ Sir , I have never seen a bone set .” To which he responded , “ What have they been teaching you the past four years ?” Being humbled early in my studies became a beneficial lesson for many encounters during my career in medicine .
During my first year in practice , I was called to the ER to see a patient . Shortly thereafter , the patient ’ s heart stopped , and we initiated the Code 300 protocol . After 25 minutes with no success , I stopped the Code . Everyone started to walk out of the room .
Standing in the corner , a young respiratory technician looked at me with tears in her eyes and pleaded for me not to stop . I called the team back into the room and we resumed the Code while I placed a temporary pacemaker into his heart . Eventually , the patient ’ s heart started beating again ; he survived and was discharged eight days later . The man lived another ten years , and I became friends with his family . I am very grateful for that respiratory technician .
Fast forward another few years , and I was rounding on Easter Sunday . Three months earlier a patient had undergone Mitral Valve Replacement , but he remained in a comatose state post-surgery on the sixth floor of the same hospital . His neurologist felt there was enough cerebral brain activity to persevere . I happened to be on that floor rounding when I heard a nurse scream . I ran to the room where she was screaming , and the previously comatose patient was now sitting up in bed . After months of lying in bed non-responsive , he felt a human touch his back , whipped around in bed and said to the nurse , “ What are you doing ?” Naturally , she screamed out of fright . Less than a week later , the patient went home and I was blessed to follow him for many more years .
Another decade passed , and I was walking over a hill in a remote area of Western Ethiopia with Ray , a career missionary . We started
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