ER Week 2

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.