Sometimes Work Doesn't Suck
I had a madly busy night tonight, but it was kind of good anyway. I had two patients for the second night in a row. Both were high needs for different reasons.
One was not exactly Somalian but from somewhere in that region of the world. (We have many patients who are from Somalia and nearby) She was such an amazingly peaceful and happy person. She and her husband had tried for three years (drugs, tests, etc) to have a baby and had actually made an appointment to begin the IVF process when she got pregnant without meds or intervention! Unfortunately her baby was almost ten pounds and she couldn't push him out and had a C-section.
She also had major problems with post-op gas. A big milestone after any abdominal surgery is when you pass gas. Usually it happens in the first 6-24 hours and the longer it takes the more uncomfortable it gets. This poor lady was 2.5 days out from her C-section and still hadn't passed gas. She was having that real sharp pain that gas causes and her stomach was so full of it that it was hard like a drum.
Well, I had tried everything last night and tonight to help her. We were feeding her warm liquids, having her walk and walk and walk and rock in a rocking chair. We tried warm packs and belly massage. I gave her a suppository and milk of magnesia to no avail. I was really getting concerned about her and had updated the doc on her condition as well as another problem she was having several times through the night. Finally, though, at 10pm her husband emerged from the room and said (in his broken english) "her stomach is much better" I went in the room with him to see her and she was in the bathroom with a huge grin on her face. I literally jumped up and down clapping and saying hooray and she too was thrilled and actually congratulated me. Her stomach was still blown up after, but it was soft to the touch.
What a weird job I have and how strange I am that I was so happy about a woman farting. It honestly made me so happy that I have a big grin on my face while I am writing about it.
I also got blood from a transfusion splashed on my cutest uniform and had to go change clothes. Lame, lame.
Also people keep congratulating me on losing weight. I have lost a ton now. It is so weird to be congratulated on something that I am not trying to do. It is so weird that it is such an honorable thing in our society to be thin. I mean I am generally at a healthy weight but just now am a little thinner than normal and people act like it is such a great thing. It is also strange how I keep losing weight w/o trying. Almost starting to think about going to dr. about it but I really hate my dr. and haven't found one I like at our clinic. Could go see my OB who I love but they would prob just refer me back to PMD. Blah blah blah. Good night.