The Night of Water Torture

It was a looong night.

I didn't write about Thursday night because I only saw 4 patients, and they weren't that interesting.  Again, little odd and end things that should have been seen in their own doctor's office.  Of course, I did have a group of unruly teenagers who were out "jumpin fences" at 11 p.m. and one girl got hit in the face by a flying elbow.  Five sutures across her eyelid which took me less than ten minutes but which had been preceded by 45 minutes of drama.  That was about the excitement of the night.

That and the fact I haven't been in a Denny's after hours since before med school, and I decided to stop on my way home yesterday morning since, for some unknown reason, I was craving steak and eggs at 4 in the morning.  There was a boisterous crowd for a Thursday night, and the steak was cooked just right.  Ah, memories of youth.

But, I digress.  Last night was torturous.  Not only because of the types of patients we were seeing, but because instead of coming en masse, they showed up as one about every 30 minutes.  All night long.  It really is torture.  You think you've finished up on your last patient and then there's a new one.  You're almost ready to discharge that one, and another appears.  And, as I said, they appeared almost like clockwork:  every 30 minutes.

Last night's sampling brought us:

 - a young girl who we were sure had appendicitis, and then her CT scan came back negative.  We're still not convinced, so she's coming back tonight for a re-check

 - a tragic young woman who has spina bifida (spine didn't completely fuse at birth, usually in just one spot) and has undergone multiple surgeries to help stabilize her spine.  Unfortunately, her most recent surgery a year ago lead to complications and a wound infection with MRSA (which you've been hearing so much about in the news), and she had been through a year of debilitating illness and was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.  She's facing another surgery and has no emotional support from her significant other or her family.  My attending was making arrangements for further care when I left.

 - guy with a toothache that said he couldn't get in to see a dentist for 2 more weeks and the pain meds he had been prescribed 2 days prior from the E.D. weren't working.  If you know 800 mg of motrin will work for you and you have a prescription for 600 mg, why don't you just add 200 more of regular strength?  Seriously, there is no magic formula in the pills that are 800 mg.  It's all the same stuff.  Really.  He didn't agree and left in a huff. 

 - guy in a snowmobile accident.  Apparently there is a huge snowmobile enthusiast population where I am working right now.  He was riding and tried to avoid crashing into another machine, but he only ended up hitting the other machine sideways.  His ankle was caught in between and now he has a fracture (break) of one of his ankle bones.  Splint for him and a referral to ortho.

 - and, my idol, a 75 year old woman who still cuts her own wood, drives her own tractor, uses a snow blower on her driveway and still drives.  She lost 5 pounds because she was researching her BMI "on the internet" and found out that she was 5 pounds above the recommended weight limit for her age and size.  She thought her blood pressure was too high so she came in to get it checked out.  She ended up staying with us for several hours longer while we made sure she wasn't having some heart problems and kept her on the monitor.  I'll find out what happened when I go back tonight.  But, I want to be her when I am that age.

Back for more tonight.  I keep hearing rumors of College night Saturday night, so we'll see if they're true.

Tags: spina bifida, depression, MRSA, BMI