 |
|
I Treated; Now I Want to Prevent
Richard E. Waltman, MD
Arch Fam Med. 1995;4(10):831.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
|
|
|
THE LAST time I had emergency department call, I admitted an alcoholic with pancreatitis and gastritis. Not an unexpected admission and not unlike the many other alcohol-related admissions I have had throughout my medical training and practice.
Aside from the histamine2 blockers administered to reduce the acid in his stomach, the treatment for this patient was not much different from the treatment I had provided as a medical student in 1975: fluids, vitamins, and sedation. Like so many of my earlier patients with the same diagnosis, he refused a nasogastric tube, promised to go to a rehabilitation program, and then left the hospital without telling anyone when he was feeling better and presumably felt the need for another drink.
Still there was something different about him. We were born just a few days apart, and that coincidence caused me to reflect on the events of our lives that had
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
Author Affiliations
Allenmore Medical Center Tacoma, Wash
|
