You'll have to excuse me if I tasfdaj;nkaail off a little bit as I write this post after a 28 hour shift in the MICU at the VA Hospital. This was the beginning of the end, so to speak; my first shift as a third-year senior resident. And boy, did we start it off with a bang! This was without a doubt the busiest night of my life as a physician. For starters, if it was my first day as a third year, guess who started their first day as a doctor?? That's right, my intern. The guy was a great sport and took it all in stride for the most part. But this was a taxing shift. It was a day that included sick, sicker, and sickest. Started off with a garden-variety emphysema flare that required a ventilator. Continued with a 2 for 1 special from the ER around 6 that included a heroin shooter with a fever and altered mental status and an alcoholic who's blood was about as acidic as the "fifth of brown liquor" that he drinks every week. Finished it all off with end-stage lung cancer who is probably the sickest patient I've ever taken care of who's family ultimately decided to withdraw care at 4am this morning. As a bonus, around 5:30 the same patient up on the floor kept cardiac arresting, after which my colleague turned to me, seriously, and said, do I have blood on my face?
Moral of the story. Don't go to the hospital. And especially don't go this time of year!
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