It was around 11 pm on a hot Summer night. I was barely a few minutes into my sleep, hardly started my circle of low snoring, and was not yet dreaming, when I was jarred awake by my cell phone. “Hello, this is Dr Fashakin”. “Good evening, Doc, this is Detective John speaking from the house of your patient, Frank James. I am sorry to tell you that Mr James just passed away this evening”.
Mr Frank James! So sorry to hear, but sadly, his death was not unexpected. He had Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension for many years, which he had not taken good care of. Both diseases have damaged his kidneys. He was on dialysis due to chronic end-stage kidney. He had severe congestive heart failure, which made him an extremely poor risk for a kidney transplant. We knew that he did not have too long to live, but Frank was a terrific guy. Always very pleasant; never gave us problems despite all his medical problems.
Frank’s wife, twenty-four years his junior in age, his son Frank Jr., 25 years old, and daughter, Martha, 21 years old, were also enrolled in our practice. The children were in perfect health.
“Officer”, I began, after clearing my head of the fog of sleep, “Frank had a lot of medical problems. His death was sort of expected. You can inform the Medical Examiner that I would be happy to complete this certificate. The ME does not need to be involved in this case”.
“Doc, you don’t understand. Frank was 25 years old and did not seem to have any known medical conditions”, the Officer calmly explained. I felt the oxygen sucked away from my breath. When I recovered from the shock, I exclaimed, “Frank Jr.? That does not make any sense”! “I know,” the Officer agreed, “we are calling the Medical Examiner right now”. We ended the call.
Frank Jr! That was completely messed up. I shuddered at the effect it would have on the older Frank, the mom and the little sister. I never had the opportunity to see the older Frank again. I am sure the extreme grief sent him on his way. He died barely two weeks after his son.
Now things took a little bit of a bizarre turn. Frank’s mom, Adelle, came to see me a few weeks after the funerals of both the son and husband. I was heartbroken for her, but her demeanour shocked me. She was casual, rather nonchalant, and I thought that I could see a smile or two. This did not make sense, for a woman who had all the men in her life wiped out within two weeks of each other, only a few weeks earlier. Odd, very odd.
As for Martha, Frank’s sister, it was a different story entirely. She took it so hard. We tried some counselling and very soon had to give her medications for anxiety. She was in bad shape. Her weight ballooned overnight.
Adelle had no such worries. I learned through one of my staff that Adelle had hooked up with another man. On a subsequent visit, she confirmed it to me. Yes, she was with someone else. She looked very happy. Martha was in bad shape, but Adelle had no worries at all when death came and took the wrong Frank!
Emmanuel O. Fashakin, M.D., FMCS(Nig), FWACS, FRCS(Ed), FAAFP, Esq.
Attorney at Law & Medical Director,
Abbydek Family Medical Practice, P.C.
Web address: http://www.abbydek.com
Cell phone: +1-347-217-6175
“Primum non nocere”
