Treat Em & Street Em

So, the fun with the pedis today consisted of walking in a room, wondering why the patient hadn't been previously seen by their pediatrician within the last 2 weeks, wondering why they were coming into the ED at 5 in the morning with a complaint that had lasted 2 weeks, diagnosing their condition, and then signing their discharge papers as I sent them home with their script, knee brace, stretching exercises, etc.

The second bit of fun consisted of trying to decipher which personality my Dr. Jekyll/Hyde attending was going to display today. At times he switched between personalities between patients, and I had to anticipate which one I would be presenting to next. Often, I found myself going to the other attending because the thought of another round of cold indifference vs. joviality was too much to bear.

My one patient that did get admitted was a 7 day old infant with a fever. I performed my second successful lumbar puncture. Albeit, I got it on the second stick, and it wasn't a "champagne tap." That is a tap with no blood at all. Rumor has it, if you have such a tap, the attending buys you a bottle of champagne. But, it's like the Holy Grail. Everyone quests for perfection, but whether the reward is there or not remains to be seen. At least the satisfaction of doing the best for your patient is still there.

That was about it for today. Nothing exciting during my shift. I work all weekend, and I know with the holiday there are bound to be some interesting cases. Stay safe during this holiday weekend. I'd like to have a relaxing one as well... sigh, I can dare to dream...

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