Day of Rest

Yesterday was a blur. But clinicals weekend #1 is over =]
I was assigned a patient who has had an incredible amount of health problems in her 55 years. She had multple sclerosis, which had affected her for 30 years. She came in last week just feeling crummy. A chest x-ray showed that her lungs were inflamed, so the docs diagnosed pneumonia. Her abdomen was scanned, and turns out her intestine had gotten twisted into a knot. Surgery was performed to removed part of her intestine. When I walked in her room Sunday morning, her abdomen was distended & tender, usually a bad sign. Her entire body, except for her face, was swollen and pitting. Her heart rate was in the 140's, pretty high. She was also unconscious, thank goodness. She had 3 consults that day. She was very high maintenance, but I barely got to see her b/c so many people were in & out of her room. After her consults, she was taken to ICU to get better care. I went to radiology with her to get another CT scan of her abdomen. Her heart rate got up to 207, extremely high. The tech in radiology took the time to explain her scan to me. Her bowel had perforated (opened inside), releasing fluid, fecal matter, and air into her abdominal cavity. Medical emergency. She was rushed back to ICU while the surgeon was called. I learned how to distinguish between air, fluids, and organs on a CT scan. Last I heard, she was in surgery.
Once she was no longer on the floor, I helped the nurse I had been working with, Katie, and tagged along with Ali & her nurse, Rose. I had a patient that I just wanted to hug. She also came in with a cold, and was diagnosed with pneumonia. The docs found some heart issues with her. One of her valves wasn't functioning correctly, causing high blood pressure. She was scheduled for an endoscopy today, and may need surgery. What made her situation worse was that she gave birth to her 2nd child 2 weeks ago. She was so upset, and there wasn't much I could do about it. I brought her soup & magazines, but that was all I could do.
I helped Ali & Rose again with all the dressing changes. Even in just a day you could tell a big difference. Things went faster; I remembered more than I thought I would.
Then, the day was over.
Monday is my day of rest. =]