Medicine Sub-I, Day 12

How quickly things change. My 'interesting' patient is getting better. An older gentleman with multi-drug resistant HIV, and a lung nodule suggesting lung cancer, he has come to recognize me as the point man during his stay in the hospital. There's a trust between us, and he seems happy to see me every morning - partly because I'm one of the few people that actually tells him what is going on. Well, trust can be fickle. I walked into his room in the afternoon, and he unleashed a bit of vitriol at me, over a number of petty little things. I suppose that I was a bit hurt by the change in demeanor, but I suppose if I were in his situation, perhaps I would be just as frustrated. This person is seriously ill, and we're nearing the end-game. There are limits to what medicine can do, and I believe he's coming to terms with that.

And I'm coming to terms with the fact that I can seem like God's gift one day, then a total goat the next.