I went to the doctor the other day. You know the one I mean...THE doctor.
What I learned: I have gained 10 lbs since residency started.
My blood pressure which is usually 105 was 130!
Holy cow! Maybe I was just nervous. Maybe when you are going to THE doctor they should wait until the appt is over before they take your blood pressure. Just a thought.
Time to start running again. No excuses. Not even if we get Ice Storm 2007 part II.
Tonight I have to go shopping for a cocktail dress to where to an anesthesia party Saturday Night.
Gee, I wonder what size dress I will end up buying.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Mean Me
I'm starting to be mean. I've noticed when I'm on call, I have a lower threshold of getting mad and speaking my mind than I normally do. I start to say what I'm thinking without keeping my mouth shut. My first victims Sunday morning were some construction workers who came into the call room area at 8:30am and starting doing work. If that wasn't bad enough, they knocked on my door, woke me up, and said they needed in my room and would be there all day working on the cables in the ceiling. I'd had enough. "Look", I said, "I'm here for the next 30 hours and this is the ONLY time I'm going to get any sleep..." I lost that battle. My pager started going off soon after that anyway. I apologized later to those guys. They were just doing their job.
There weren't anymore victims until about 6:30am the next day, when I got paged with the Rapid Assessment Team to go see a patient (who is supposed to be in dire straights for us to get called). I get to the pt's room and there was no nurse to be found to clue me in on why we were called. The patient was just calmly lying there and I asked her if she was okay and she said she was. I went out to the nurses station and asked who the nurse was for that room and why is nobody in there to fill us in on why we were called. She explained she was standing in the hall to direct all the responders what room to go to. Well, that's great and all but she's supposed to be in the patient's room helping us since she's the only one who knows the patient. I was more than a little short with her. I felt bad later and apologized. I was right, it is a rule that when you page the team you must have somebody at all times in the patient's room so we know what's going on, but I thought long and hard later about how I came off. Here I am, this young, snot nosed doctor, getting snippy with a 50-something nurse who probably has more years of nursing on her belt than I have years of breathing. In my exhaustion from being up all night, I forgot to treat her like a person. I hope I don't let that happen again.
So that night, I had 3 rapid assessment team calls, 8 hospital admissions, and a code blue (that I successfully resuscitated only to find out that the pt had a signed DNR in her chart that somehow none of the nurses knew about). I felt really bad about that one. She did die later that night.
There weren't anymore victims until about 6:30am the next day, when I got paged with the Rapid Assessment Team to go see a patient (who is supposed to be in dire straights for us to get called). I get to the pt's room and there was no nurse to be found to clue me in on why we were called. The patient was just calmly lying there and I asked her if she was okay and she said she was. I went out to the nurses station and asked who the nurse was for that room and why is nobody in there to fill us in on why we were called. She explained she was standing in the hall to direct all the responders what room to go to. Well, that's great and all but she's supposed to be in the patient's room helping us since she's the only one who knows the patient. I was more than a little short with her. I felt bad later and apologized. I was right, it is a rule that when you page the team you must have somebody at all times in the patient's room so we know what's going on, but I thought long and hard later about how I came off. Here I am, this young, snot nosed doctor, getting snippy with a 50-something nurse who probably has more years of nursing on her belt than I have years of breathing. In my exhaustion from being up all night, I forgot to treat her like a person. I hope I don't let that happen again.
So that night, I had 3 rapid assessment team calls, 8 hospital admissions, and a code blue (that I successfully resuscitated only to find out that the pt had a signed DNR in her chart that somehow none of the nurses knew about). I felt really bad about that one. She did die later that night.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Ice Storm 2007!!
If you watched the news where I live, you would think it was Armageddon. The drama started last Monday when they predicted an ice storm would hit Friday. Yes, Friday. They talked endlessly about it all week until.....Friday, when it happened. Sleet began to fall and the news soon went on simultaneous coverage for 24 hours. Can you believe it? 24 hours of non-stop Armageddon-Ice-Storm-2007 drama. I loved the storm. I was on call Friday Night and because the roads were so bad, people decided they just weren't sick enough to come to the hospital, which meant an easier night for me. Yes, it's all about me. I was still busy though. Just not AS busy. The storm pretty much lasted all weekend. I woke up Sunday Morning to sleet pelting the windows and roof and.....thunder! It was glorious!! Not so glorious to the 100,000+ folks on the eastern part of my state. They got freezing rain and lost power. That happened to me 5 years ago and it was a complete drag. I'm lucky I live in a big city and was only out of electricity for a day. Those poor people are in smaller towns and it may be weeks.
Now, getting back to "Ice Storm 2007" (insert dramatic music here just like the news did), I went to the store Tuesday Night to buy a few things "just in case". There was a thoughtful sign up at the store warning us all of the impending doom and giving us helpful advice on what staples to buy. Included on that list was of course, cigarettes. I did a double take. Cigarettes? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Yes, by all means, be sure and stock up on cigarettes in case you can't get to your neighborhood 7-11 during the storm. Good grief. That is pathetic. Whoever put that sign up should be ashamed of himself. In fact, I think I will write them and let them know.
Now, getting back to "Ice Storm 2007" (insert dramatic music here just like the news did), I went to the store Tuesday Night to buy a few things "just in case". There was a thoughtful sign up at the store warning us all of the impending doom and giving us helpful advice on what staples to buy. Included on that list was of course, cigarettes. I did a double take. Cigarettes? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Yes, by all means, be sure and stock up on cigarettes in case you can't get to your neighborhood 7-11 during the storm. Good grief. That is pathetic. Whoever put that sign up should be ashamed of himself. In fact, I think I will write them and let them know.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
This week has not been eventful. My board scores were mailed to me yesterday so I'm kinda waiting on pins and needles for them to get to my house.
The guys in my residency program are starting to bug me a little. Just stupid little things that annoy me, like them sleeping in the female call room and using our bathroom and then getting pee on our clean floor. Gross. They also act like they know everything, which is also starting to bug me.
Remember the lady I blogged about who had bad chest pain, was out of breath, and her cardiologist blew me off at first? She suffered an anoxic brain injury from that morning and was never able to come off the ventilater. Her family has been divided as to how her care should be handled. It turned into a Terri Shiavo sort of thing. For all practical purposes, she is in a coma and will never come out of it. I found out today the family finally agreed on removing her from the ventilator and letting her die tonight. It's the right decision in my opinion but I'll just never forget being one of the last people to talk to her and knowing how scared she was. She was in so much pain that she asked if I would rub the back of her neck for her. So I did. I'm convinced she knew she was going to die.
That's really about it. A big ice storm is supposed to hit tomorrow and I'm on call then until Saturday morning. Hopefully I'll be able to drive home okay because I sure don't want to spend my whole weekend at the hospital!
The guys in my residency program are starting to bug me a little. Just stupid little things that annoy me, like them sleeping in the female call room and using our bathroom and then getting pee on our clean floor. Gross. They also act like they know everything, which is also starting to bug me.
Remember the lady I blogged about who had bad chest pain, was out of breath, and her cardiologist blew me off at first? She suffered an anoxic brain injury from that morning and was never able to come off the ventilater. Her family has been divided as to how her care should be handled. It turned into a Terri Shiavo sort of thing. For all practical purposes, she is in a coma and will never come out of it. I found out today the family finally agreed on removing her from the ventilator and letting her die tonight. It's the right decision in my opinion but I'll just never forget being one of the last people to talk to her and knowing how scared she was. She was in so much pain that she asked if I would rub the back of her neck for her. So I did. I'm convinced she knew she was going to die.
That's really about it. A big ice storm is supposed to hit tomorrow and I'm on call then until Saturday morning. Hopefully I'll be able to drive home okay because I sure don't want to spend my whole weekend at the hospital!
Monday, January 08, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Boo bees
I have to go back to work tomorrow. Not only do I have to get up before 11am, I have to get up at 5am!! Thank God for Ambien, otherwise, I'd be getting 4 hours of sleep tonight instead of 7 or 8!
I guess I am ready to go back. My intern year has been pretty fun so far. I'm half way finished now, and with my licensing test over (hopefully I passed), I can just cruise for 6 months until I start doing anesthesia. All of my friends are just now starting to study for it and are getting stressed....not me!
Sadie is feeling much better. She's acting much more like her old self and she's not meowing all the time (in an attempt to tell me her teeth really hurt). I bought her one of those water bowls that recirculate water and then it comes out a little spigot to simulate a real faucet. I'm not sure if she's drinking out of it yet, but she hasn't been spending all her time in my bathroom waiting for me to turn on the sink faucet, so I think she must be (that's how she likes her water). Now she has fresh flowing water even when I'm gone, which, when I'm on call, is about 30 hours. It's important for her to get plenty of water now.
Mr Big and I went to Pottery Barn today. I finally decided what kind of bedroom furniture I'm going to buy. I'm pretty excited. I love their stuff and he bought me a very generous gift certificate to their store for Christmas. I can't wait to get my furniture!
Mr. Big told me a funny joke today: What goes, "BZZZZZZZ....BOO! BZZZZZZZZ ....BOO!" ?
Answer: boobies!
I guess I am ready to go back. My intern year has been pretty fun so far. I'm half way finished now, and with my licensing test over (hopefully I passed), I can just cruise for 6 months until I start doing anesthesia. All of my friends are just now starting to study for it and are getting stressed....not me!
Sadie is feeling much better. She's acting much more like her old self and she's not meowing all the time (in an attempt to tell me her teeth really hurt). I bought her one of those water bowls that recirculate water and then it comes out a little spigot to simulate a real faucet. I'm not sure if she's drinking out of it yet, but she hasn't been spending all her time in my bathroom waiting for me to turn on the sink faucet, so I think she must be (that's how she likes her water). Now she has fresh flowing water even when I'm gone, which, when I'm on call, is about 30 hours. It's important for her to get plenty of water now.
Mr Big and I went to Pottery Barn today. I finally decided what kind of bedroom furniture I'm going to buy. I'm pretty excited. I love their stuff and he bought me a very generous gift certificate to their store for Christmas. I can't wait to get my furniture!
Mr. Big told me a funny joke today: What goes, "BZZZZZZZ....BOO! BZZZZZZZZ ....BOO!" ?
Answer: boobies!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Sad news
Well, so I wasn't totally in the clear about my kitty's health. I took her in to the vet today for her major tooth cleaning. I picked her up tonight. She was still sorta out of it and the vet came out to talk to me, which is probably never a good sign. Anyway, they had to pull 5 teeth because she had developed abscess underneath them, which were probably very painful (insert guilty feelings here). The really bad news is that her labwork shows she has renal failure. I guess I knew deep down that was coming. She has been drinking a lot more water over the last few months, almost competing with me for the sick faucet because that's how she's always liked her water.
Now I have to decide how far I'm willing to go with her illness. I changed her cat foot to a special renal food (no problem there) but the vet was talking to me about giving her subcutaneous fluids every week, hypertension medicine, and supplements. As much as I love my little buddy, she's still a cat. Forcing all that stuff on her, despite the good intention, would drive her insane and she would not tolerate it well at all. She's already hating the antibiotics and pain meds she got sent home with. Lucky for her, that's only for a few days. I was reading online about kitty kidney transplants and I couldn't believe somebody would put their pet though that. It's interesting for research, but kind of crazy. How much does that cost, anyway?
On a good note, Sadie is meowing a lot less tonight. Either she is still sort of drugged or her mouth is feeling a lot better (again, insert guilty feelings here). Imagine, having a mouth full of abscessed teeth and not having it treated right away. I wish I had done something sooner. I just didn't know.
Now I have to decide how far I'm willing to go with her illness. I changed her cat foot to a special renal food (no problem there) but the vet was talking to me about giving her subcutaneous fluids every week, hypertension medicine, and supplements. As much as I love my little buddy, she's still a cat. Forcing all that stuff on her, despite the good intention, would drive her insane and she would not tolerate it well at all. She's already hating the antibiotics and pain meds she got sent home with. Lucky for her, that's only for a few days. I was reading online about kitty kidney transplants and I couldn't believe somebody would put their pet though that. It's interesting for research, but kind of crazy. How much does that cost, anyway?
On a good note, Sadie is meowing a lot less tonight. Either she is still sort of drugged or her mouth is feeling a lot better (again, insert guilty feelings here). Imagine, having a mouth full of abscessed teeth and not having it treated right away. I wish I had done something sooner. I just didn't know.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Smelly Cat
I have a Smelly Cat. When I hear Phoebe's song on Friends, I think of Sadie. Her breath is absolutely awful! It has gotten so bad lately that I can smell her breath when I'm just in the same room with her. I've put off taking her to the vet because I haven't had time but I also was afraid of hearing that she had kidney or liver disease. She's almost 14 years old and I've been lucky thus far in having a healthy cat, so I was just waiting for some bad news. I'm off this week and the first thing on my list of things to do (after finally getting over most of my nasty cold) was to take her to the vet. I was relieved to hear that she "only" has bad gingival disease that will require a thorough teeth cleaning under anesthesia. I signed her up for Thursday morning. Funny the things we will do for our pets.
She didn't much care for the visit today for two reasons: 1. the friendly boxer doggie in the waiting room who just wanted to see what was in my pet taxi 2. the rectal thermometer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETQfuzNGT58&mode=related&search=
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