Waiting for Tonight

I often wonder what makes a person come into the emergency department with a non-emergency.  Especially when they have a problem that's been going on for more than, oh, 6 months... a year... 3 years.  And, I doubly wonder about them when they tell me that they've actually been seeing their doctor on a regular basis and never brought it up... not once... not ever... didn't think it was important.  Until today, more often, tonight.  And, can you please fix it and make it go away?

Now, my mother would often say, "Those doctors don't know anything.  They just want your money and to give you pills."  That, of course, was before I went to medical school.  Afterward, when she would complain to me about a chronic problem, I would ask her if she had told her doctor about it.  Her answer, "Well, that's what I have you now for."  And for, I suppose, all the other patients that come into the E.D.

But, seriously, what was it about today... tonight... that suddenly made it worse?  Come on... tell me... you know that I am not going to be able to fix you.  Because if your primary care doctor who has all the time in the world and a heck of a lot more resources can't figure out what is wrong with you, then how do you expect me, the lowly E.D. doc who has maybe five minutes to spend with you amoungst the maelstorm of humanity, and who doesn't know anything about your background, your meds, your allergies, your homelife, your mother's maiden name or the name of the boy you kissed in the fifth grade to fix you today... tonight...?

Please tell me...

Egg-tastic!

The bantams that I got in mid-September have started laying eggs!  They are Golden Seabrights, and I have a rooster (Waddles) and two hens (Mabel and Sheila).  I am not quite sure which of the hens is laying, but I am very excited about their being happy enough with their new surroundings to start.

In the spring I will probably let them have a clutch of chicks, but until then we will just enjoy the fruits of their labors...

Bantam eggs compared to a AA Large egg from the grocery store... how many of these will I need to make an omelet...?

Three Wishes

Everyone was talking about the date today, and a lot of Facebook chatter seemed to be focused on making three wishes...  If you could make three wishes what would they be...?

1.  To be able to go back and learn to cook with my grandmother.  I long for some of her special recipes.  Some are simple dishes, some more complex.  I would run to the corner store for her, and I should remember most of the supplies, but I don't remember how to put the dishes together.  I really miss her special sauces and soups.  No one makes them like her.

2.  Did you ever watch the movie "Peggy Sue Got Married?"  I would like the chance to see certain forks in the road where I made a choice that affected my life and find out where my life would have been different.  Would my life be very much different than it is now, or would I have pretty much ended up in the same circumstances?

3.  I would like one special talent.  I know a lot about a lot of things.  I've dabbled in music and the arts.  But, I know I will never be a master anything.  I just don't have the dedication, nor the skill.  I can do some things well, but I will never be the best at something.  Kind of like the goal I had as a kid to be in the olympics.  Every year that passed was another opportunity lost.  At this point I think I could possibly only compete in sailing or equestrian.  Although Dara Torres did give a lot of us inspiration to be better than ourselves.  Hmm... wonder if it's too late to take up swimming....?

A Page and a Half Day

We have a patient log we keep that helps us keep track of our patients during our shift.  It's basically a sheet of paper with 20 sections wherein we place patient stickers.  The average amount of patients you see is about 20, so you fill up a sheet during your shift.  Extra patients go on the back... today I filled a sheet and a half.  Thirty patients!  That's a lot for a small town E.D., and it can be overwhelming for a single physician during a shift...

Today I saw:
 - child with vomiting; there's a lot of the stomach flu going around
 - teen with a possible STD
 - nausea and vomiting; did I mention the stomach flu?
 - thrombosed hemorrhoid; they hurt, you not me, but I have a fun and satisfying time cutting them out
 - gallstone and pregnant; ouch
 - baby with a fever
 - patient with dizziness that had no findings on all of her labs and CT scan
 - elderly patient with broken pelvis after a fall
 - patient with high blood pressure needing to start medications
 - Bell Palsy, worried they'd had a stroke, it's scary not to feel half your tongue
 - MS patient with pain
 - patient with a zit that turned into a facial infection needing antibiotics
 - patient who passed out then left against medical advice even though they had abnormal changes on their EKG
 - patient with infection of his both of his legs
 - back abscess that needed draining; I think all docs find these somehow satisfying
 - infected hand from a bug bite
 - shortness of breath that turned out to be from heart failure
 - drunk and on meth coming in with nausea and vomiting
 - nausea and vomiting that comes from having too high a nicotine patch dose
 - abdominal pain from a large spleen, why the large spleen...?  maybe the medical docs can figure that out, not for me to know
 - worsening back pain after a fall
 - back pain after a fall due to spinal fractures and spinal cord impingement
 - Nursemaid's elbow, another satisfying procedure
 - belly button infection that I burned with a silver nitrite stick, cool
 - another stomach flu victim
 - vaginal bleeding in a pregnant woman
 - chest pain in a patient with no heart disease that's been coming in over the last year with the same problem
 - broken foot

Wow... what a day!  It's amazing to see all the patients laid out like this.  Now to get all these dictations done... and you know how much I love dictations... ugh...!  Back for more in the morning.

On Writing...

I want to write a novel.  In fact, if it wasn't for my schedule this month, I would have gladly joined in on the NaNoWriMo challenge.  But, I just don't have the time.  Not this month.  Not next month.

I want to write a novel.  But, I am worried.  What if I'm a "one hit wonder?"  What if I suck miserably and end up on someone's "don't read" list?  What if...?

I want to write a novel.  I need a quiet place.  Or a coffee shop where I can sit in the corner and just write, pumped up on caffeine.  And scones, or bread pudding... I really like bread pudding.  With jam.  Lots of jam.

I want to write a novel.  A good fact-checker is essential for writing a novel.  Google would be very helpful.  Also, I need to make sure someone is checking for continuity.  Don't you hate watching a movie and seeing a mistake?  Like someone's wearing a ring, then not wearing one, then wearing one... all within the same scene.  Drives me crazy.

I want to write a novel.  I really don't have a lot of discipline.  I think it takes a lot of discipline to sit down and actually write every day.  I know just doing this blog a day for a month take a lot of discipline.  But a novel, that's going to take several months....

Maybe I'll just stick to blogging.  Short, sweet, not much in the way of character development because I am the main character.  Don't have to worry about dialogue because it's all inner monologue.  Yeah, I think for now this will suite me just fine...

But, I still wanna write a novel.

Well Burl Me Over...

I think I said we like stopping at different places when we travel, and today we stopped at "It's a Burl" on our way home.  It's a great art gallery that includes several buildings.  I didn't know what a burl was, and today I learned all about burls, where to find them, and how to polish my own.

This is a picture of a redwood tree burl, and it's basically a cluster of sprouts.  Some are from the roots, others are along the tree, some come out when the tree falls.  It all depends on the type of tree.  And from these burls you get pieces of art like this table...

I love learning stuff like this... that's what traveling is all about...!

History Lesson, or Maybe Not

One of the things DH and I like to do when traveling is stop at small shops with local products.  I had seen a wine and cheese tasting store in a small town near Medford, Oregon while my DH continued his search for the perfect hang-gliding spot.  While on our way back, I asked if he would stop so we could taste some of the local wines which Oregon is becoming more famous for.

We wandered around the store and sampled some of the dessert wines they were pouring, and we happened to ask about the region and why the town was a historical landmark.  Blank stares all around.  Now, not to say anything about the local clerks, but we like to find out a little something about the places we visit.  And, if you're going to work in one of these little towns where someone might be interested in the local history.... well, I'm just saying.

What I did find out about the town (thanks to Google) is that it was the first town settled in Southern Oregon.  Cool.  That's all I wanted to know....  And the little shop we stopped in... yummy homemade fudge and in-store smoked meats... OMG!  Not to mention the two bottles of local dessert wines we picked up... Cranberry/raspberry wine and a pear wine.  Delish!