© 2025
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We recently completed the changeover to a new, much improved audio management system, including a new program scheduling computer, file servers, workstations and more secure and reliable IT networking between our studios in Garden City and Amarillo. This work involved thousands of audio files and lines of programming code, so you may hear some glitches in our programming as we "burn-in" the system in the coming days. We apologize for any disruptions to your listening. If you have questions or problems to report, please contact HPPR's Technical Director, Alex Fregger (afregger@hppr.org).

KJJJP-FM 105.7 in Amarillo is currently operating at 10% power due to problems with its main transmitter. Engineers are currently working to resolve the problem. If you listen to 105.7 FM and are experiencing reception problems, you can always listen to its programming through the streaming player above.

Two patients dealing with their own suffering, changed a med student's perspective

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Mark Metersky. In 1985, Metersky was a medical student doing rotations at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. One of his patients was a young man who struggled with heroin addiction. He'd been in the hospital for a lengthy stay to treat a heart problem, and Metersky found him difficult to work with.

MARK METERSKY: He was manipulative. He would bargain. He was the bane of my existence. In the same room was a very unfortunate young man dying of AIDS-related lymphoma. He had exhausted all treatment options, and the only thing we could do for him was to treat his pain. Unfortunately, 40 years ago, we were much less skilled at treating pain, for a variety of reasons, and in this patient we were not doing a great job. I was called one night at about 3 a.m to see him, trying to improve his pain control - likely by giving him more pain medications.

When I got to the room, the lymphoma patient looked horrible. He was delirious, barely conscious, clearly in pain, sweating diffusely with his hair plastered to his forehead. However, his head was in the heroin addict's lap, who was rubbing his back and wiping his forehead with a warm towel. The heroin addict was providing the support and compassion and comfort that we were not doing a good job of providing.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

METERSKY: This had a profound impact on me in two ways. The obvious one is to always be cognizant of patients' suffering. But it also told me that there are very few patients, or people in general, who are all good or all bad. You'll find generosity and compassion in some unlikely circumstances. And these are both lessons that I've tried to carry to the present day.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KELLY: Mark Metersky lives in Avon, Connecticut. And you can find more stories of unsung heroes at hiddenbrain.org.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.