INDEXING TITLE: RMujer’s Medical Anecdotal Report [05-05]

MAR Title: Two Faces of Love

Date of Medical Observation: June, 2005

Narration:

I was at the canteen of the hospital, drinking one bottle of soda to refresh myself from the busy hours in the emergency room from where I was sitting at. I chanced upon at a middle aged lady who was wearing a faded blouse and an off white skirt. This lady was known to be one of the vendors in the hospital. Everybody calls her “manang”. She was selling chocolates, sometimes “chicharon”. I used to buy some of her products although the prizes were more expensive. I then stopped to ponder about her plight. Here she was having to travel miles away from home just to earn money to support her children.

 After awhile, I immediately proceeded to emergency room wherein, another middle aged man accompanied by an officer consulted for a medical certificate. He tried to commit suicide by jumping from an electric tower. He allegedly had a misunderstanding with his girlfriend who wanted to break up with him. Fortunately, he succeeded to get his girlfriend’s attention. She pleaded with him to get down from the tower and he obliged to do so after sometime.

Insights: (physical/psychosocial/ethical/stimulus/reinforcement/discovery)

            Two different stories from two different people, one tried to rescue her children from starving, and the other tried to get his girlfriend’s attention. But these two situations had only one reason, “Love”.

Witnessing these two scenarios made me realize once again that my purpose as a physician is not solely to care the physically ill, but also to heal the emotionally crippled. These people showed me that no matter how tough life could be, with passion and genuine concern as the main drive, everything would be smoothen out and resolved even better than we expected.