[Nathans_Dad]

I changed my original post, I didn't want to include too many specific details in order to protect patient privacy.

The gist of it is thirty something patient comes in with severe infection, had it for several days and did not seek care (despite friends urging him to do so) until he was literally near death. I'm not exaggerating here, if he had stayed home a few more hours he would have died at home. So, we do everything we can for him and despite this he ends up spiking a massive fever (109 degrees) and may have suffered brain damage despite our efforts to bring his fever down as quickly as possible.

I have this bad habit of going back and replaying every move I and the other doctors made in a case with a less than optimal outcome. Somehow I seem to think I should have been able to see the future and treat problems before they occur. I often wonder if my tendency to beat myself up when a patient does poorly will end up shortening my medical career.