| | It's unbelievable that it's been 10 weeks already since I've started work. So much to say, so many stories to tell. The learning curve continues to be extremely steep.
Before I start, I shall clarify some terms and the hierarchy in medicine, the big boss is the Consultant, next down is the Registrar, then the Senior House Officer (SHO) then me, the House Officer.
For the past 3 days, I've been left on my own ie. NO registrar or SHO. Just me and the big boss, which is very unusual.
Today, I strolled into work as usual, and within 2 minutes, one of my patients died right in front of me. We've been expecting her to go off anytime within the last few days but oddly enough, it happened just as I came to work. It's the second time that I've seen someone die right before me so I can't say that I'm used to it yet. It felt odd..a slight sense of helplessness. The sad thing is that it could have been prevented.
She was a lady with dementia and was staying purely in hospital as she was waiting for a place in a nursing home. Unfortunately, she caught a bug that gave her diarrhoea called Clostrium Difficile (C.Diff) which didn't go away despite antibiotic treatment. She became terribly unwell and developed a small heart attack which then led to a downward spiral.
Hospitals are nasty places. Elderly people who stay there long enough WILL catch a bug of some sort. I've seen quite a number of these deaths which makes me very bitter with the system in general. Nursing homes are generally very full with a long waiting list and unlike back home where usually our elderly relatives will come back from hospital to live with us, a significant number of elderly people have to be put into homes because their relatives haven't got time to look after them.
Hence, the unnecessary waiting around in hospitals leading to a 'hospital-acquired' infection leading to death.
Yesterday, I had to tell a 60 year old man that he had a 12 cm tumour of his colon. That was 2 days after I stuck my finger up his bum. Fortunately it hadn't spread to any of the other organs so the prognosis is fairly decent. Breaking bad news is something that I'm surprisingly comfortable with. It's not that I enjoy being the bearer of the news but somebody has to do it and I think I'm pretty good at that :)
Tomorrow, I will be starting my night shift for a week. That's 14 hours over night in a day for the next 7 days. I really don't know how I'm going to cope with the lack of sleep...I won't be seeing anyone at all other than my colleagues on the night shift and the patients for the next week.
Oh well...this is what I subscribed for in the first place so I shouldn't moan. I do feel quite privileged at times to be part of some of the most significant moments in a patient's life which makes up for the other frustrations that comes with work.
Anyway, that's all for now. Need to go to bed. Keep the pictures coming. I enjoy seeing everyone 'grow'. :)
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| | Posted 10/4/2007 10:13 PM - 43 views - 0 comments
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