I loved my first weekend in the ER. Absolutely loved it!
At the end of the first day, a man drove up to the ambulance bay saying "baby now. baby now." He didn't speak much english. Shannon was handed a bundle of blankets. He ran into the crash room yelling, "someone get the mom! someone get the mom!" Once in the crash room, I watched him open the bundle. "Oh, oh, oh. This is small. So small. Oh, small." In the blankets was a bloody, blue baby. She was born 16 weeks early. She weighed 1.2 pounds. She was gasping for breath. Once she was stable, she was flown to Crawford-Long hospital. The mom retained the placenta and was bleeding heavily. I'm pretty sure she ended up having a hysterectomy.
A 24 year old woman came in with abdominal pain. Turns out, she had a tumor the size of a cantaloupe stemming from her right ovary. She had surgery, and is OK now.
I also helped hold a 1 month old boy in place for a spinal tap. Thankfully, he wasn't a screamer.
I got a new nickname in the ER-Majik, instead of Majeski or My Jet Ski. I like it. =]
Now, for my health:

• I have high cholesterol. We're talking 250, folks. Sucks for a 21 yo.
• Some of my neck problems have been figured out. The dura mater on my first cervical vertebrae is too thick, pushing my nerves.
• Also, my extra rib has grown longer, pushing on my nerves.
• I have carpal tunnel in my right wrist
• I have a "bump" in my 5th cervical vertebrae. It's been there for a while, and yes, it's still causing problems. It's from Degenerative Disc Disease.
  

So now I have a consult with a orthopedic neuro doctor. Hopefully he can give me a special kind of epidural into the thickened dura mater to reduce its size to relieve some pain. Please no surgery!

Rocky's too sexy...

(no subject)

crocs at the crab shack

Over the weekend I had a patient whose story brought me to tears.
She was 94. She fell and hit her head 2 years ago and was just brought to the hospital by her 3 children. She had a huge wound on her forehead that drained constantly. She was so sweet to talk to, and very appreciative. Dr. Perez showed me her CT scan. An infection has eaten through a quarter of her skull. When we changed her dressing she screamed in pain. She begged us to stop, and thanked us for taking care of her. As we cleaned her wound, we actually touched her brain. We saw bones of her skull. The smell of the infection was overwhelming. Blood dripped into her eyes. After redressing the wound, I walked out in tears.
Another patient was a fun 70 year old. I would sit with her for up to an hour at a time. We talked politics, religion, and relationships. She was fun.
Another patient had to be restrained because she was very confused. She would get up and walk the halls with her robe untied, showing the whole hospital her ass. She also tried to hit nurses and aids. We ended up getting a sitting for her so she wouldn't be left alone.
That's all from me for now.


playing with riley on a study break