FIRST ATTEMPT TO HELP A PATIENT WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA.

Human memory sometimes fails. When it is necessary to suddenly remember something urgently - it does not work, then suddenly suddenly some interesting memories emerge. That's what happened now. When I previously talked about my first attempts to treat bronchial asthma, I forgot to talk about the very first encounter with this disease. This happened in those distant times, which for some reason everyone began to call "stagnant," which I cannot agree with, if only because the coming times for an ordinary person brought more troubles and experiences than the past. And for me, that period was filled with strong creative activity aimed at healing the sick.

So, after the distribution, I got to work in the Izmail city hospital, where I worked as a resident in the psychiatric department. Periodically, all doctors, regardless of their specificity, were on duty in various hospital stations. So I had to wait in the hospital's therapy room.

That night in the pulmonological department was a young girl of 17-18 years with a severe form of bronchial asthma. I took duty from the second doctor, I began to do round.
It was calm in all departments, no one made any complaints, and suddenly a nurse from the pulmonology department comes to me and reports that a sick girl would have developed a severe attack of suffocation. As I moved to the ward, the nurse told me that the patient had been prescribed all the necessary drugs, a drip was being made, prescribed by the pregnancy, but there were no positive results and the condition of the patient was deteriorating.

When I entered the ward, I saw a young girl lying under the hood with pronounced symptoms of suffocation, she grasped the air with her mouth and while breathing she heard wheezing coming from the lungs, the skin of her face was pale and her face expressed a strong sense of fear.
I asked the nurse if the department manager knew about the patient's condition, to which I received an affirmative answer, and that all appointments had already been made and no more drugs could be administered. The patient asked for help, because she was afraid that she was about to suffocate and die from suffocation.

Realizing the impotence of the situation, I sat in a patient's bed, took his hand and began calming her. A few minutes later a miracle happened - the girl began to breathe better, wheezing decreased,  the color of her face improved and she even hesitated. I sat for about 5-10 minutes near her, and convinced that she was in no danger, I decided to keep going around the departments. At the end of the round, a nurse from the pulmonology department came to me again and again reported that the patient had become worse and had a renewed attack of bronchial asthma. I had to go back to the pulmonology unit. Returning to the ward, I found the girl in the same serious condition as before, but in the eyes of the patient I no longer saw strong fear and despair, since she saw me and was already waiting with hope.

I should have walked into her room when she asked me to take her by the hand, because my touch made her so much better, and I begged her not to leave her again. Taking her hand, I began to speak with her calmly on various topics, which I cannot remember now, and after 5 minutes her breathing improved, and later the attack completely disappeared. So I sat by her till morning. Then I turned in my shift to the next doctor, and I never met that patient again. But the acquired experience was very useful to me when, after courses of psychotherapy in a year or two, I began to treat  patients with bronchial asthma more knowingly.

This episode showed how strong and useful not only professional, but also human involvement and desire are to help the patients.