title: The darkness shall be the light.
abstract: This case study is the author's attempt to share a cardiac patient's experience in a personal and respectful manner. Case studies ordinarily share all of the medical and physiologic aspects of what is happening to patients and leave out the essence of the person. This is an effort to go beyond the ordinary and see the human being who has had a severe myocardial infarction and now lies in an intensive care unit. The nature of one patient's struggle through darkness may be realized with the use of the patient's own words, information from family members, and the creative expressions of the author.
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Unit, Dekalb Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Downs
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003422:Critical Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011183:Postoperative Complications