I took a deep breath and composed myself before entering the hospital room. I was a third-year medical student and preparing myself to deliver bad news. I was well aware that I had never done this before. He had a resident, an attending physician, and a lung specialist all caring for him, but I was the one who saw him three or four times a day. I was the one who spent the most time with him, and I felt that I should deliver the news.

He had entered the hospital three days earlier after several days of coughing and, more recently, coughing up blood. He was a 58-year-old sometime laborer. He was an indigent patient with no insurance. He had an address, but he had lived on and off the streets.
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“Good afternoon,” I nervously said as I entered the room, although I knew it wasn’t going to be a good afternoon.

He sat in a chair beside the bed staring at a blank TV screen. “Afternoon,” he said with a nod in my direction.

“Are you watching TV?” I asked.

“Naw, man,” he said with a chuckle, “cost four dollar for the TV. I ain’t got no four dollar.”

“How about something to read?” I suggested, “There’s plenty of magazines in the lounge.”

“Ain’t never learned to read,” he answered. He did not seem insulted, but I felt bad for having suggested it. I should have realized he was illiterate, but at the time I had never met someone who could not read.

“Anyway, I came to talk to you about your bronchoscopy results.” I said. “The biopsies finally came back.” “Cancer?” he asked, taking me aback. “Uh, I’m afraid so,” I nervously replied, “but we’re going to take care of you. You’re going to be evaluated further tomorrow so we can come up with a treatment plan.” Apcalis Oral Jelly

“Pretty bad, huh?” he said. “My daddy died of the cancer.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Do you have any family to be with you tonight?”

“Naw,” he said sadly. “Got three kids I ain’t seen in years. I’ve been trying to reach my sister, but she don’t know I’m here.”

He continued to stare at the blank TV screen. He had a hopeless look, and tears welled in his eyes.

I stood there as an inexperienced, naive third-year medical student. I didn’t know much about doctor-patient relationships, boundaries, or proper protocol. I struggled for the right words, but the room remained silent. I reached into my wallet and pulled out $4.00 and laid it on his bed.

“Here,” I said, “I’ll get the lady to come back and turn on your TV.”

“Thank you,” he said with a surprised but ecstatic look.

I looked in on him before I left for the night, and he was smiling and staring intently at the TV. For that moment, his troubles were forgotten.
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I knew that what I did for him would not make any major difference in the overall scheme of things, but I will never forget the look on his face that night. And when I look back, I have no doubt that it was the best four dollars I had ever spent.