It has been over a year since my last entry! LOTS has happened since then… graduation, new job, new place, new car, new friends… essentially, a new life.
I am currently a resident on rotations at one of the local hospitals. My current rotation: Emergency Room. As you can probably already imagine, each day is different than the last and that is exactly what makes this place so exciting! I get bored pretty quickly so it’s great for me, but today felt like a tv-show.
As I was walking into work this morning from the employee parking lot, my eyes caught something small and yellow and green on the sidewalk. I’ve never really been one to be superstitious or to believe in omens, but when you see a beautiful, dead bird on the sidewalk on the way IN to work, I should have known. Apparently it was a yellow warbler, which is known to migrate across North America: 
pretty cute, huh?
I wanted to share two stories from work today; I won’t violate privacy by using names, so if I use names, they will all be made up.
- MVA (motor vehicle accident) Semi truck vs. Auto
- PICA
1. In the middle of the afternoon while I was reviewing some treatment guidelines, over the loudspeaker I heard “TRAUMA LEVEL 1. ER EIGHT MINUTES” That means, we have 8 minutes until the highest, most severe case of trauma flies through the ambulance bay. I always get nervous when I hear this announcement- because we never know how bad its going to be…we just get ready.
This MVA – it was pretty ugly from what I hear. The Autodriver was turning left at a green light. The Semidriver apparently blew the light. He T-boned the Autodriver at the intersection, ROLLED the semitruck… the SemiDriver was not in good shape. The ambulance sent him to the ER first. Several minutes later, another trauma arrives practically unannounced. It was a surprise because typically multiple traumas are sent to different local hospitals to maximize resources. Anyway- as we are stabilizing the SemiDriver in the trauma room, Autodriver is wheeled right into the very same room. They were barely 10 feet apart as the same staff and resources try to heal these men. Later as both are more stable, I hear AutoDriver talking to his family through the thin curtain that divided them. “Boy- I hope that truck driver is okay. He was in really bad shape” Little did he know, the SemiDriver was indeed several feet away, conscious and listening… the miracle of this case was that even though all of this, he was NOT angry in the slightest. He simply said, “everyone makes mistakes. We can’t help it. ” Unbelievable.
For AutoDriver, this accident was a blessing in disguise…let me explain. As a victim of a major trauma, we draw blood to check for any other damage. This patient had not been in to see a doctor in years. (I should tell you, I am in a fairly rural area- though I’m sure many urbanites don’t get checked up often either… ) His blood sugar was out of control! He wasn’t previously diagnosed as a diabetic, so if he had not been brought in that day from this accident, he wouldn’t have discovered for- who knows how long… and it may have been too late.
2) PICA is an eating disorder. Google it if you wish. It’s really quite unusual. We had an 18-year old girl who’s NON-food item of choice is sidewalk chalk. Yes, you read that right. Sidewalk chalk. It’s really quite sad, but I am a horrible person and I couldn’t help but giggle when I reviewed the case. Her chief complaint was— constipation. I mean, no kidding. If anyone eats a ton of sidewalk chalk, I’m not surprised that they get super constipated. I left before they were able to coax a BM out of her, but I really do hope she gets some help and stops eating chalk.
Alright. It’s time to write up an abstract for my residency project. I hope you enjoyed the main cases of my day.
it’ll be a while until I go, so take your time.
