Take time to listen

I suppose that todays post is a lesson on listening. And yes, I learned another lesson from another patient. You see, my patient is 93 years old. She has such beautiful twinkling eyes. She is not as frail as you would expect a 93 year old but still seemed a bit depressed all the same. Her daughter came with her. But what I noticed is that the daughter did not listen. She dismissed what her mom had to say about the pain in her back and hips with the excuse...mom...its old age...you are 93. You don't need to see the Doctor about this.

My, what a statement to say to the woman that raised you. Well, I decided to listen. She explained how she feels as though her back is always in a strain and that by the time it is time to go to bed at night she is in so much tension that she cannot sleep.

I watched how my patient got on the table and realized that the only problem she really had was how she moved her body. As soon as she finally got still I put a block under her legs....her knees were bent, her legs at a 90 angle to her body. She looked at me and with a gleem in her eye stated that this was the most comfortable she has been in 40 years. Her daughter whipped her head around in disbelief. I explained ergonomics to both. I explained how to lay down properly and how to get up properly.

You know, after listening to the history of this woman and how she had been to many Doctors to find out what was wrong with her I realized that all anyone really needed to do was just listen to this patient. All she needed was to learn good body mechanics so that the muscles in her back could relax....we accomplished this in half an hour. Had anyone really listened to her 40 years ago...can you imagine what a life changing experience she would have had? This patient thanked me....gave me a hug...told me how much she appreciated that I just listened to her.

So the lesson here is simply learn to listen. When you learn to listen you can actually hear what someone is trying to say to you. You may even be surprised that when you learn to listen....others will learn to hear you.

I expect my patient to have a brilliant life from this point on. She is active, her bones are strong and she now has learned a tool that will keep her in a relaxed state. We should all think long and hard about learning to listen.