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My patient was old and tired. And he was beginning to struggle to breathe.
“Sir,” I said, “I’d like to record a message of you on my phone. I want to send it to your children.”
I spoke gently, aiming for grace and patience as I stood at the foot of his bed. Had circumstances been normal, I would not have made this request. I would not have needed to. This man would have had his family gathered around his bedside to comfort him. But my patient had arrived as coronavirus was sweeping across the country, an illness which, in addition to causing rapid deterioration of many, manages to rob us of the most basic forms of human connection we rely so heavily on in moments of upheaval.
I did not relish asking a sick patient to let me film him, but this was my best chance at connecting my patient, in these critical moments, to his loved ones. He was still coherent and able to consent, though that would not remain the case for much longer. The end of this man’s life was approaching. The weight of this personal moment was apparent and shared only between us, a doctor and a patient. I thought his family should be involved, too. He breathed out the word, ‘Okay’, barely audible over the oxygen filling his mask.
There …
Footnotes
Handling editor Ellen Weber
Contributors Both authors of this manuscript contributed substantially to the creation of this document.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.