Last week it seemed that God was trying to remind me that I
may not be as open minded as I would like to think I am. It all stemmed from a surprising outcome in the hospital and a book about Trump.
The patient
was a 40 year old female. History of headache for 1 week with chronic
hypertension. That morning she had been found unconscious, non-responsive, with
posturing on the left side and excessive drooling. I had trouble getting
reflexes and pupillary reaction and we did not have a cuff large enough to get
an accurate blood pressure (didn’t think I’d have that problem in Africa). Because
we so frequently see strokes even in young people, I had made up my mind that
this was a massive stroke. I thought this patient would likely die or be
handicapped the rest of her life. I ordered some medicines and was called away
to another patient before I could order labs. But then again, why order labs
when you have already made your diagnosis? Fortunately the nurse was more on top
of things that morning than me and brought me the lab order sheet right away. Oh
yeah, I guess this could be hypoglycemia, HIV, severe anemia, or DKA. When the
patient’s blood sugar came back at 30 I both felt relieved and horrified. Thankfully
this was a treatable condition and the patient could end up completely normal.
But I was horrified that I had almost missed this crucial diagnosis that could
have killed her. We gave the patient some IV glucose and she immediately sat up
and started shouting and praising God at the top of her lungs, her family
singing songs of praise right alongside her. It is how I imagine people reacted
when witnessing miracles in the Bible.
Then comes
Trump. I like to think of myself as open minded and eager to see things from
other’s point of view. I’m certainly not so cemented in my ways of thinking
that I cannot be swayed with a rational and compelling argument. So, when my
dad recommended The United States of
Trump by Bill O’Reilly I thought it was a great opportunity to prove this
to myself. The test comes when reading a book about a man who I have few
positive things to say about written by a man I’m not fond of. Look at me – so
open minded! Well, turns out I have completely made up my mind about what kind
of person I think Trump is. I could interpret everything Bill was saying to
support my current views and beliefs. I even took notes, and it was
difficult for me to think of anything positive and I didn't feel that any of my views had been changed or refined.
While I obviously still have room
for some personal growth it did help me take a step back and more easily withhold
judgment of others who hold their views so tightly. This is especially
difficult on subjects I think see as black and white. It’s hard to change a belief
you’ve held for years, even more so when it stems from your worldview. In some
way you may feel it defines you or shows weakness if you change. You may have
social pressure from friends or family to continue with your current thinking
and behaviors. We see this frequently with people going to the witch doctor
before pursuing Western medicine, even if it means a family member dies due to
this decision. This feels similar to the belief that vaccines are a government
hoax. It’s also frustrating to me when in obviously complex issues, beliefs are
held so tightly that there is no room for grey: homosexuality, abortion,
transgender medicine. These strong held beliefs can simultaneously make me
angry and shake my head in disbelief. But after this book, understanding the
foundation and rationale for those beliefs is helpful. I can now say understand
how or why someone would support Trump. I can also say I keep my differential
diagnoses far more inclusive!
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