Ok, this will be a short post, but today was pretty awesome. I got to suture up a laceration on a finger and do a digital block (numbing the finger) all by myself!!!! My ER doc was right next to me talking me through the entire thing, but in the end, I put in everything alone! Woohoo. Halfway through a surgeon walked in and was breathing down my neck the entire time watching. Scared the crap out of me, but he was very kind and encouraging.
We had a man come in with a GI bleed today. I had done the physical exam, went back and presented to my dr and he asked if I did a rectal exam. Umm nope, I had not. Figured I'd save that for the good ole ER doc. As my friend Lara would say "Oh contraire mon frere." In his exact words, "You're all over that girlfriend." So I headed back, with gloves, lube, and a hemocult test (testing for blood in stool) in tow, plus a nurse to help me. We get him rolled over, and there is massive blood everywhere. So lucky me, I got out of the rectal exam, but the smell of a GI bleed was quite possibly the most awful smell of my life. Like I gagged.
More to come tomorrow.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Emergency Medicine
I'm currently rotating in the ER. I have to say I love it. I started last Monday and within two hours of being there I sutured up an arm. It was very exciting, as I'm used to working on raw chicken! I'm now working 12 hour shifts: 7-7. I'm currently working the day shift, but will probably pick up an overnight at the end of the week. The patients that come in the middle of the night are different than the kind during the day.
So basically my day goes like this: patient is triaged by a nurse, I go see the patient, come out and tell the doctor what I want to order/prescribe, he orders what I say, goes and sees the patient to tell them what we're doing, and figure out what's going on with them.
Some of my highlights besides the suturing are learning to read EKGs far better than I have been able to the last two years, a man who came in to deliver his overdue baby, my first acute abdomen, and the thankfulness of the families of the really sick people.
My two saddest moments: 1) An elderly woman who kept falling and breaking open her leg. We had to tell her she needed to go to a nursing home for rehab to get her strength up and she was just crying and telling us that going to a nursing home was her greatest fear. It just about broke my heart. 2) A baby who was seizing for over an hour. The mom was just sobbing. It was awful.
Oh yeah, I got ACLS certified this week too. This means I can now run a code. Yup that's right RUN A CODE. Like be the person in charge. Pretty scary if you ask me. My ER knows that I'm certified now. I'm slightly frightened this means in the next week I could be running a code so that I can do a real one...not one on dummies.
So basically my day goes like this: patient is triaged by a nurse, I go see the patient, come out and tell the doctor what I want to order/prescribe, he orders what I say, goes and sees the patient to tell them what we're doing, and figure out what's going on with them.
Some of my highlights besides the suturing are learning to read EKGs far better than I have been able to the last two years, a man who came in to deliver his overdue baby, my first acute abdomen, and the thankfulness of the families of the really sick people.
My two saddest moments: 1) An elderly woman who kept falling and breaking open her leg. We had to tell her she needed to go to a nursing home for rehab to get her strength up and she was just crying and telling us that going to a nursing home was her greatest fear. It just about broke my heart. 2) A baby who was seizing for over an hour. The mom was just sobbing. It was awful.
Oh yeah, I got ACLS certified this week too. This means I can now run a code. Yup that's right RUN A CODE. Like be the person in charge. Pretty scary if you ask me. My ER knows that I'm certified now. I'm slightly frightened this means in the next week I could be running a code so that I can do a real one...not one on dummies.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Can I Get Some Help?
Ok boards are tomorrow. I have to be there at 7:30. Jake and I are heading down to CO Springs in a few hours to check in to the hotel, eat dinner, relax, etc. I'm doing a light study today, but don't want to overwhelm myself in the last 20 hours or so.
So what I'm asking is that if you can send me good vibes, think about me for a second tomorrow, pray, or whatever you feel comfortable doing. Please. I can only do my best, but I would love any extra help I can get. I would really appreciate it.
Thanks, and I'll see you all on the other side.
So what I'm asking is that if you can send me good vibes, think about me for a second tomorrow, pray, or whatever you feel comfortable doing. Please. I can only do my best, but I would love any extra help I can get. I would really appreciate it.
Thanks, and I'll see you all on the other side.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Terror Has Set In
Ok, my boards are in less than a week. LESS THAN A WEEK! OMG. The last two nights I've had dreams about boards...not good ones either. I'm cramming in as much as I can this last few days but part of me is freaking out that I can't possibly know enough and I think I'm going to fail. My blood pressure is going up as I type this so I need to switch topics.
My parents and sister are coming on Friday and are staying for a week. It should be lots of fun, but the first few days I can't spend too much time with them as I need to study my brains out. Somehow I went back to that subject. Anyways, some of the plans for the week include: Pike's Peak, Colorado Springs Zoo, Garden of the Gods, Estes Park, introducing them to some good ethnic food (let's be real, WI is known for cheese, not Indian and Thai), and lots of lounging by the pool. Jake's apartment complex has a hotel room that they rent out to families so they'll even be in the complex with us!
Ok I need to get studying.
My parents and sister are coming on Friday and are staying for a week. It should be lots of fun, but the first few days I can't spend too much time with them as I need to study my brains out. Somehow I went back to that subject. Anyways, some of the plans for the week include: Pike's Peak, Colorado Springs Zoo, Garden of the Gods, Estes Park, introducing them to some good ethnic food (let's be real, WI is known for cheese, not Indian and Thai), and lots of lounging by the pool. Jake's apartment complex has a hotel room that they rent out to families so they'll even be in the complex with us!
Ok I need to get studying.
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