After a year of general medicine practice in the McCamey, Texas, a rural oil town in the barren field of West Texas, I took up residency in Family Medicine. Unless I wanted to practice my profession in small hospitals in the rural areas, I would need to go for further training if I worked in larger cities and in larger hospitals. I would too would need to get a board certification in my specialty.
I applied to Texas Tech University Health and Science Center in Lubbock, Texas and accepted to residency program in Family Medicine. So, we moved to Lubbock after finding an apartment for the three of us, Edith and our daughter, Lorraine.
Residency training was relatively easy for me because of my previous training experience in the Philippines. I already had some experience managing complex cases, done surgeries, and delivered babies on my own.
After a couple of months in Lubbock, we bought our first house after figuring out that our mortgage payments would be lesser than our apartment rent. The house had two bedrooms with a one-car garage. Was in the older part of town in a working class neighborhood. It had a good size lot, back yard enclosed in a wooden fence.
Lubbock is in the Northwest Texas which is arid, and summers could be hot. The house had a swamp air cooler, also known as an evaporative cooler. Overall swamp coolers have been far more energy efficient for home cooling. Swamp coolers will use 15% to 35% of the energy that most traditional AC units would use. They also do not require any chemicals in the way that traditional AC does. This can be better for the environment. According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), an evaporative cooler can successfully reduce the ambient temperature by 5 to 15 degrees—but even the DOE is quick to clarify that this process works only in areas with low humidity like Lubbock.
The house was bare of any furniture, no refrigerator, just a gas stove and an oven. We found a used furniture store where we bought a dining table set for four, king-size bed frame, head board, night stand, sofa and a sofa table. All these for about less than $200, that was in 1974 when gasoline price was 39 cents a gallon. We then went to Sears Department store, bought on credit a refrigerator, king-size mattress, and beddings.
Getting things to furnish our first home was exciting, though we were on a tight budget knowing that the place now belongs to us. We had two cars, Edith drove the 1974 Oldsmobile Omega, which we bought brand new and I had a used Beatle Volkswagen that I had repainted and re-upholstered. The Volkswagen had manual transmission and had no air conditioner so only I used it.One day, they assigned me to assist a surgeon in a surgical procedure in town Southeast of Lubbock. As the procedure was about to end, my pager went off. I request one nurse to check where the message came from. When she gave the number, I recognized it to be our home number. There were no cellphones then. I requested the nurse to call the number. She came back and said my wife was frantic because she accidentally locked our daughter in her car with the car keys inside. Knowing that it won’t take long for the temperature go up inside the car, the surgeon told me to drive home right away even before I even ask him to excuse me.
Having read of children dying left in an enclosed car because of the summer heat I drove I fast as I could to my home. Fortunately, the roads were free of traffic and there were no traffic cops. I was there in about 15 minutes. When I got to our driveway, I saw Edith distressed in tears and our daughter Lorraine inside the locked car, sweating, smiling, and unaware of the danger she was in. I immediately opened the car with my spare key and it was a great sigh of relief to hold our daughter in our arms. I thank God that the car was under the shade of the tree in our front yard, which slowed down the rise in temperature.
Looking back, I now realize that the event had a traumatic effect on Edith. For a while after that episode she was afraid of drive alone with our daughter, or to go to places like grocery stores. She was afraid of what would happen to them if she passes out, because had episodes of suddenly she getting lightheaded, dizzy and short of breath. When she would get these sudden attacks of anxiety, felt she like she was having a heart attack or would collapse. Fortunately, this improved after telling her, although these episodes were frightening, they were not dangerous or going to kill her. I gave her instructions to breathe in as slowly, deeply and gently as she can, through her nose, then breathe out slowly, deeply and gently through her mouth during episodes of attack. I remind her not to let the fear of panic attacks control her.
In helping people with panic attacks, first it is important to let the victims know the symptoms they feel are real and not imagined. The worse thing one can say to the victim is, “this is all in your head,” because the symptoms they feel are real. Agree that they are overwhelming symptoms, at the same time assure them that these episodes are not life threatening and provide them with the tools to deal with it. The problem with panic attacks is the longer one has it, the more one gets into the vicious cycle that the fear of having another panic attack triggers the panic attack. When that happens, you could now understand how this could be so disabling to some of its victims.
What do you say during a panic attack? Saying “calm down”: While getting a person to talk is vital, phrases such as “calm down,” “don’t worry,” and “try to relax” could make the symptoms worse. “Try not to panic.” This is probably the worst phrase someone can say to you when you’re already in the middle of a severe panic attack. Becoming irritated: Remain patient to help a person deal with a panic attack and do not belittle their experience. Recognize and be sympathetic to their distress and concerns.
Panic attacks affects more people than we commonly witness. Studies show lifetime prevalence estimates are 22.7% for isolated panic without agoraphobia. Most people who have agoraphobia develop it after having one or more panic attacks, causing them to worry about having another attack and avoid the places where it may happen again. Agoraphobia is extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving one’s own home, or of being in places from which escape is difficult. Yes, in the emergency room we frequently encounter patients with panic attacks, unfortunately some us care providers don’t take the time to talk to the patients about the nature of their problem, just telling them, “not to worry it just all in your head.”
It was a difficult time for Edith during that period because, being new to the place, we hardly knew anybody in town and I was away from home most of the time. She was worried about our toddler if something happened to her when they were alone together. I just thank God she got better after she understood her problem and knowing it was not life threatening.
— Lauren Elizabeth
