Doctor tells tale of losing a patient, and what Katy Perry had to do with it
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Mohammed Nayeemudin is a internal medicine resident at Temple University in Philadelphia. (Courtesy of Mohammed Nayeemudin)
Mohammed Nayeemudin was working in the ICU when he got a call from the emergency room — a 30 year old who had been found in his apartment by his parents after a bad asthma attack. No one had heard from him in three days, and by the time he was found, the lack of oxygen had caused a sizable brain injury.
“Everybody on the team knew what was going to happen, but none of us really could plan to tell it to the family,” Nayeemudin said.
Over the course of the patient’s stay, Nayeemudin got closer to the family and eventually told them that their son wasn’t going to recover. The patient’s mom requested her son be an organ donor, as per his wishes.
Nayeemudin and the family waited in the operating room for the patient to pass on, and while they waited, the family asked if they could play music.
Their selections took Nayeemudin completely by surprise.
This story was told as part of the Annals of Internal Medicine “On Being a Doctor” Story Slam. Listen to the full story above.
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