Upon his arrival I asked him all the neuro questions I ask everyone..and the only question he had problems with was time... Old man Jacobs must have had a good 1943 because he was hell bent that was the year.
During my questioning he told me that he had felt a bit off for the last few years but he could not exactly say why. He said he had seen numerous Drs over the years but no one ever found anything but also never really did any testing. He stated that he felt they didn't listen to him and he hoped we could figure out what was wrong. To be honest I did not have high hopes
for this. But if I had to have guessed right then I would have said senility or your basic geriatric changes.
All blood work was normal. Urine normal (Urinary tract infections in the elderly causes mental changes) EKG normal. Chest Xray negative. Old man Jacobs blood alcohol 0.00, and his drug test was negative. Time for a brain scan...
After returning from the CT scanner, and while waiting for his results he told me about being widowed a decade earlier and of never having had children, or any family for that matter. He considered his neighborhood his family, and enjoyed his daily walks as he stopped and chatted with some and gave gardening tips to others. He watched as the children grew and had made friends with all the animals.
Old man Jacobs with his peaceful voice and great story made me wish I was his neighbor..
I wished even harder that the radiologist was wrong with his diagnosis.. A large mass in his brain that was so big it was actually shifting his brain toward one side.
Old man Jacobs has brain cancer and when told of this the first thing he said was "Thank you" he thanked us for figuring out what was wrong and for telling him honestly and too the point.
As we were getting ready to transfer him to the big neuro hospital for care I asked him if there was anyone I could call for him.... he thought for a minute and asked if it was possible could I locate the neighbor who called for medics and apologize for causing them such concern and let them know he was ok and he would be home after he took care of something..
Anything for you Old man Jacobs.. in our brief few hours together you won my heart and reminded me why I put on those blue scrubs.
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