Faith in the ICU: Stories of Wonder

I am a man of deep faith, striving to live a life of righteousness to the best of my ability. While never imposing my religious belief on anyone, especially not my patients, I am still quite comfortable in the sphere of faith and speaking the language of faith. Moreover, I have encouraged my colleagues to not shy away from faith.

As I continue on with this series, "Faith in the ICU," in both the Healthcare Musings podcast and this newsletter, I will share several stories that confirm to me that there is another, unseen, realm that works in the ICU, and they never cease to amaze and fill me with wonder.

To protect patient privacy, the specifics of each story are not listed. My first story is that of a patient who was at the end of life. It was clear he was suffering, and he "kept fighting," and his wife kept fighting along with him.

We happened to be alone with him, as his wife had stepped out, and he told us, "I am tired." We felt so bad for him, and when his wife came back into the room, I could not help but share his comment with her.

"You know," I said to her, "just know he told us that he was tired."

This was news to her, and she said that she was only fighting alongside him, and she didn't want him to suffer anymore than he wanted.

She then turned to her husband and said, "It is OK. We will be fine."

I swear by God, as soon as she said that, his eyes rolled back, and he started to die. We already agreed that he would die naturally if this situation had arisen, and he proceeded to die naturally and comfortably.

I was awestruck. I firmly believe that he was ultimately going to die, and I am so very grateful that I was able to help him die with comfort and dignity. And yet, his death was not going to occur until he knew that his wife would be OK. I firmly believe this is Divine Mercy being shown to his wife, so that she can get some comfort in a truly terrible situation.

Clearly, there is an unseen realm that surrounds us in the ICU, and sometimes, this realm is shown to those of us helping care for critically ill patients. Paying attention to this realm has enormous dividends, for both the patient, and the clinician as well.