Aug 16, 2002, 10:34 PM
I had a patient one time with can\cer to the mandible. He had gone to the doctor, went through surgery, but they were unable to get it all. I was a fairly new nurse. When I began taking care of him, his face looked grusesome. By the tiime he died 6 months later, his face was literally falling or flaking off. Just about everytime I went into his room, he would be looking in the mirror and peeling pieces of his flesh off. It was really sad. The nurses were applying neosporin to thepeeling areas several times a day. When we would wipe znd clean the old neosporin off, it was like pieces of skin would wipe off. The night before he died, he had become unresponsive on day shift. I was wroking 3-11. I noticed that he was unresponsive when I came in that shift. At about 7 pm, his call light went on. It kind of freaked me out at first when his call light went off because he hadn't really moved the whole shift and I had been unsuccessful in arousing him. When I entered the room. he had family visiting (I had never seen any family before). the atient was sitting on side of the bed fully awke. He said "I need pain medicine". I went to get the shot. When I returned a gave him the shot. He then sat on side of the bed. As I stood there he began staring at me. All of a sudden out of nowhere, his hand flies up and slapped me across the left side of my face. He left tears burning my eyes. His family jumped up and told him that he could not hit the nurse. Guess what? Stupid me stood there in shock so long that he hit me again. I kleft the room, the family apolocized and left. The patient was unresponsive a little later. he died in the middle of the night !! I will never forget how bad his face looked and the look in his eyes when he hit me !!
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