Kuutar :
I am an ICU nurse, but nothing could have prepared me for the moment my own father became an ICU patient after suffering his fourth stroke, admitted to the very same institution where I work.
Believe me when I say that it is a different kind of pain when you are the one witnessing everything firsthand. When you already know what is happening, when you speak with the doctors before they even have the chance to explain things to your family, and when you understand the possible outcome even before everyone else is ready to accept it.
The hardest part was watching him suddenly lose consciousness. Despite knowing what was happening and what might come next, I did everything within my capacity to buy him a little more time. Just a little more time, so that even if he could no longer respond or open his eyes, he could still hear the voices of his wife and son, who were on their way to the hospital. I wanted him to have that moment with the people he loved.
I also took the initiative to sign the DNR and DNI, knowing how difficult that decision would be. I did not want my family to carry the burden of making that decision themselves or spend the rest of their lives questioning whether they had done enough. I wanted to spare them from that guilt, even if it meant carrying the weight of that decision myself.
People often say that nurses are trained to handle situations like these, but no amount of training prepares you for watching your own father slowly slip away. You can understand the medications, the monitors, the interventions, and the prognosis, but none of that teaches you how to handle the pain of being a son who desperately wants more time with his father.
That day, I wasn’t just an ICU nurse. I was a son trying to hold on to his father for just a little longer.
2026-11-01 12:50:30