Today I had a really great moment in clinic.  I saw back one of the first patients I operated on last October.  He is an 84 year old man who came in with a gastric perforation.  He had been hospitalized the month prior for another illness and when he went home he told his sons he was sure if he ever had to go to the hospital again he would die there.  As we were wheeling him off to surgery, his sons told me he had said good-bye to everyone in the village as he left and told them he would not be coming home.  Talk about pressure to save a guy. 

He did great though.  He flew through surgery and the post-operative period without a hitch.  On the second day after surgery he was sitting up in bed and told me he was going home.  When his sons and I told him he could not go yet, he told us if his sons would not take him home he would just go catch the bus.  He was in the bed directly across from the entrance to the ward, so every day I was greeted by him sitting up in bed, with his wide smile showing me how strong he was by lifting his arms up in the air over his head.  He has three sons and all of them are as cheerful and energetic as their father.  They all stayed with him during his hospital stay, always laughing and joking with him.  You could tell they really loved and respected him.

Today he came to clinic to get a refill on his blood pressure medications.  We give patients two months of medications at a time.  It is hard to keep tract and remember all of the patients because we see so many, but as soon as he walked in the door and flashed me that smile I knew who he was.  I think he was surprised to still see me still working here.  He gave me a big enthusiastic hand shake and then he told me that as soon as he sat down next to me all of his troubles and pains went away.  What a line . . . as if it was taken right out of a movie.  It was great to see that he was still doing so well and I am honored that I was the one that was here who helped get him home.