So the new year did not start out well for me. Stepson had a touch of gastroenteritis the other day and I feel I picked this up while caring for him.
I awoke yesterday, after imbibing with a few beers, wine, and some non-heart healthy food the night before, to a very nauseated stomach and generalized body aches. Thinking that I was being punished for the overindulgence I went about my day, got the kids breakfast, and tried to clean up some of the dishes. An hour later I was in the bathroom - dying. The whole shabang of gastroenteritis hit me - diarrhea, violent vomiting, and serious hurt. I ended up putting Daughter down for a nap around eleven in the morning and proceeded to sleep.
Thankfully Stepson took care of her after she awoke because I was out till 3 pm. The remainder of the day was spent trying to keep warm (I was freezing), making it to the bathroom in time, and staying hydrated with the left over Gatorade we had from Stepson's episode. I went to sleep at 8pm and slept till 7 this morning. I feel better - hazy, but better.
So, after that experience, I had to wonder how I would be able to manage to work as a resident if that same scenario played out. Residents have been known to work through serious illnesses, some having IV's placed in order keep hydrated. All I know is I was useless yesterday - how would I care for patients?
Anyway, Happy 2008!
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2 comments:
I rank gastroenteritis a 10/10 on my pain scale. Having gone through it *twice*, both bouts requiring a morphine-induced unconsciousness in order to finally stop me from writhing in pain, I agree with your description about "dying" in the bathroom. I'm sorry you went through that. But as far as having this during residency... well, as my chief said, "If you're not coughing up your lung, I expect you in the hospital." I'm sure there are do-it-yourself instructions for a thoracotomy, right?
this is one thing that makes me insane about residency programs. I work in the ICU. My patients are hanging on by their toe nails and a resident comes in hacking, coughing and choking on snot over the bed.
I have sent residents home over the whining of staff docs..yes I am but a lowly nurse but it's insane to have someone sick standing over the bed of someone sick. There are infection control rules and I will enforce them.
When we had SARS we had a moron resident attend the funerals of three victims...completely exposing himself to all the families.
Of course he got it and spread it.
He lived, a nurse died.
Human rights are not on hold during your training.
Any one who encourages the sick to come to the hospital should be lambasted for spreading disease.I don't care who they are. If they whine stagger over to the computer and print off a few hundred pages of infection control research and tell them to have it read for when you return and then leave.
This is one of the many reasons all residents should make sure the nurses love them. We will not allow you to be abused if we can prevent it and that includes the humiliating pimping crap. I don't have that kind of time in my day to listen to some blowhard lord it over the baby docs.
It's why we call you baby docs..we don't beat the crap out of our kids when they screw up while learning something new and hard we sure as hell shouldn't be be punishing our new docs because they have failed to learn something they haven't even been taught yet.
Nurses are known for eating our young but we are damn amateurs compared to docs.
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