Post-call
Exhausted, slightly disoriented and feeling woozy. We just cooked up a big breakfast and I think now that we're digesting we're slowly falling asleep.
It was cool, two of my friends were on call with me last night so we got to go through it together. It ruined our weekend, in fairness. Saturday call means 9am to 9am on Sunday. You have no vacation between the two work weeks and no day to sleep in and recharge your batteries. Its cool having a friend or two on call with you because when they're done their work or you're done yours, you wander over and help clear each other's boards by doing the menial (and annoying) little tasks of re-charting drugs and taking bloods. It lets the guy working the ward focus on the bigger issues such as working up a patient with chest pain or low blood pressure, or admitting and ordering pre-op tests for a patient coming in for an operation.
Being on call is a totally different experience to normal work. You cover a few wards on your own and depending on your luck it could be a good night or a bad one. I had a good night last night, managed to sleep 4 continuous hours (unheard of!). When I woke up at 6 I thought my pager was busted. I hurried up to take a few bloods meant for 6am and I found out that all the patients had slept quite comfortably through the night. Even that one guy who was de-sating (desaturating, in terms of blood oxygen saturation levels) had had a reasonably quiet night. Lucky me.. still makes me worry that the next one is going to be a bad one. Things tend to work out like that.
What's going on in Lebanon anyway? I've been so wrapped up trying to strike that balance between work and play that I've been cut-off from the world. Hope that shit resolves itself soon, its too complicated and depressing for me to even follow on the news.. that's why I'll just put my head down and keep on working I suppose.
5 Comments:
huh, you think that's bad? When I was a doctor, we worked from 9am till 6am the same day! (where did those extra hours come from?) and then have to wake up and start all over. We didn't have swabs and had to lick the patients after giving them injections. At night, they kept us in one of the hazardous material bins and we only had one cheerio each to eat (still better than what the nurses got). A whole bowl of cereal AND a bottle of water? Luxury.
monty bikeshed
p.s. there is too much going on with the football mercato to even consider other things such as the attacks on lebanon...see you on the pitch
and, you think THAT'S bad? When I was a doctor, we worked for 48 straight hours with diseased albino raccoons clawed to our legs (for the kids)... We didn't have any friends on call with us, instead the hospital arranged for our worst enemies to be working with us - They kept on trying to stab me with potassium chloride injections! When they were done with their work, they didn't come over to help, they'd switch my patients' saline bags with bags of jello!!! We also had to sleep in bedpans!!! Oh, and food? Try putting together canteen salmon en-croute after it's been upchucked into a Hazchem bin!!!!
You know it wasn't always like this... Pssht. Luxury.
-seroo cleese
yes... put your head down.. don't bother about what's happening right around the corner... before you know it.. you'll wake up with rockets hammering all around bahrain.. and with some funny looking foreign dudes as your masters and controlling you...and you know what.. your own neighbours won't give a shit about you because when they needed you.. time and again.... no one gave a rat's ass about them... instead.. they put their head down.. and said.. none of my business!
Head down, chin up - been there, done it and that t-shirt wore out long ago and has holes in it mate. In fact, that pretty much describes how its been for as long as I can remember it. In fact, that's pretty much what is was like living in London or New York. So, what's your point exactly, bub? Or are you just venting cause you can't do a damn thing about it? Either way, I like to keep things light and humourous on other peoples blogs, but would more than happily take your challange anytime...
Firing fbt Bikeshed
Ditto.
Thanks, bikeshed.
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