When the patient is the artist of the year

I once worked a shift in an ambulance. The call: "Bad breathing." We arrive. A man of about fifty opens the door with the look of a man who has lived through six dramas and three TV series. In a loud voice he declares:

- That's it! This is the end! Take me, save me, I'm almost dead!

I smile reservedly and begin the examination. The pulse is like an astronaut's, the breathing is even, the pressure is like in a textbook. I ask:

- Where exactly do you feel that "that's it"?

He makes a dramatic pause and says:
- In my soul... in my soul it's crushing!

My colleague, unable to bear it, goes into the car to laugh. And I, already realizing that the case is more psychological than medical, say:

- Well, I suggest a course of therapy: tea with lemon, a good movie, and not reading the news before bed.

The man nodded, warmed up, thanked us with such sincerity, as if we had saved his life. Or maybe we really did save him - from panic and loneliness.

That's how it happens. Sometimes in our work it's enough to just be a person with attention and humor. And most importantly - without unnecessary pathos!