A Sad Day

I took Daniel (see October 29 blog) back to the operating room yesterday and again this morning to clean out the abscess in his brain again. He has been very sick and delusional in the intensive care unit. The procedure seemed like it went well, though there was still some bleeding that I had to pack off. He was never stable in the ICU after the procedure today and died 3 hours later. I am deeply saddened at losing such a young patient (21) who obviously came from a concerned family. In addition this complication was preventable, had he been able to have the necessary surgery three years ago. His father and often his mother and sisters have been at the hospital daily over the past 3 week. In general, the family is responsible for providing food and other necessities for patients during their stay. I was really hoping that Daniel would get better, despite the odds.

To add insult to injury, I have had a stomach bug today. I first started getting nauseated this morning while I was operating on Daniel. By midday I had vomited. I have been in bed all day. It is now 6:30 pm and I am feeling better, though not well enough to go to Hannah’s basketball season premier tonight. She was supposed to play yesterday, but she was just getting over the same bug I have. No one else in our house is getting sick so far, but sickness is going around many of the families associated with the school. Since it is so widespread and short-lived, I suspect that it is a virus. In isolated cases we often suspect food contamination. Lisa and I had diarrhea last month when our cook failed to properly bleach the cucumbers in our salad.

Michael Mitchell, MD