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Showing posts from May, 2018

ER Diaries : Brain Overdrive

Hey! It’s not a pleasant situation to have ZERO control over  •What you think •How you think •Where you think For me it’s two poles . All good or all bad!  I feel like I want to murder someone and at the same time I don’t mind having a shawarma. • It’s tiring  •It’s exhausting  It’s must to speed dial your BFF when thoughts are out of proportion to Get out of unpleasant trial of thought. •I live more inside my head than outside it. There really is no bright or positive side to living with anxiety, and although each sufferer has a different experience .  P eople who immediately act on those ‘wild-card dangers’ are more likely to survive and preserve the lives of their loved ones.  People believe that those who suffer from anxiety have a better likelihood of being empathetic as they may be better at reading emotional signs as well as being attuned to certain energies. So far so much

ER Diaries: Family Reunion

Hey People! Frustration mode on. One thing I or any ER physician  can’t emphasise enough: the ER is not the place for a family reunion. Bring one responsible adult to help you through the process. If you must bring children, see that there is an adult to watch them. We are not Romper Room. We need to figure out what’s wrong with you and treat you. We don’t really want to deal with your sister’s, best friend’s hysterics at the same time. Please leave the entourage at home! So frustrating how crowded ER’s have become. The root cause is overuse by patients who’ve figured out they can get seen sooner than getting to see their primary care doctor–if they even have one. No one part of our medical system exists in isolation. Like a long line of proverbial dominoes, when one part tips over, it knocks down almost all the others in someway. It’s high time people understand. Small problem = small hospital like a minor cut or something where they can get attended quickl

ER Diaries: Horny Patient

Hey all, Sharing a Rather funny incident today!  A 20 something girl walked into the ER with 45 something man . Both seemed healthy and fit. I enquired who the patient was.She asked me if Gynaecologist was available. I was replied No, am an ER physician. Tell me your problem . May be I can help you with it if it’s acute ? You won't find a Gynaecologist at this hour. She starts, See I have itchy vagina. For a few days now. I enquired about the discharge,  Odour ,Blood and all. All had a negative answer .Meanwhile the man looked like a father figure to her , but you never know . So I asked her who he was. She was burping out anything and everything without hesitation which is VERY RARE irrespective of your race and nationality, whatever be your religion or culture to talk about your personal details in your parents presence. She continues Whenever I itch I am feeling horny. I thought I heard it wrong, I asked her twice , thrice . HORNY she says loudly.  Um

ER Diaries : Being a Zombie doc!

Hey people! I talk about Emergency medicine and my life around it much, and that’s on purpose. Here’s why :  My life is wonderful. I really love it. Is it perfect? No. Is anyone’s life perfect? Definitely not. I would never wish to portray my life in a negative fashion and certainly not to wish for sympathy. I would talk about it in an informative way, but even doing that, to be comprehensive, you must hit the low points because all careers have them, and again, just doing that can come off as complaining. I always end up thinking. I’m exhausted physically. All I have had to eat is a protein bar on my one washroom break in the middle of a 12hour shift .and sometimes not even that. And sometimes partied like crazy. The concoction of being hungry like a pauper or partying like a king makes it all worth living! I haven’t had quality sleep in days, and I feel like no matter what time I leave the hospital, I have left work undone. I miss feeling normal. No matter

ER Diaries: Finding a groom - The struggle is real

Why did you land up here?  People are scared to take a step further! I want you to write the entrance one more time and get lost from this field  !  I spoke to a lady for matrimony purpose and she cut me down saying Emergency Medicine ? This a demanding field! Just take a Paraclinical subject and SETTLE down.  - My Mother said. Some more Free Me Time . I laugh as I breathe heartily before my mom runs behind me with her belan!  Dust settles down. I don’t ! Cutting down the cliche crap . Some serious fodder down here: While common marriage advice holds that a person should place his or her marriage above all else, doctors  often don't. Living with this reality often requires a lot of patience! Patience these days is like biryani takes a lot of efforts and wait !  The healthcare  is a cross section of our society, and just as in any other community, there are always promiscuous men and women. The type of work doctors deal with tend to attract partners th

ER Diaries : Adrenaline ! Adrenaline!

Hey! One should experience what it's like  to be in the playing field.  The rush of adrenaline is nothing ! Like anything else in the world. And, the satisfaction of  having tried, beats the crappiest loss ever! As you start walking, the path appears . The diagnosis settles. Once you  jump off the plain and tread onto the   uneven terrain, you will  thank yourself for doing that because  the feeling of being  'born new' gives a high ! Don't let the skin stand in between you and the diagnosis !   I am most certainly activated and not the least bit tired! Dress your bruises and start running again because what happens , happens! You can almost feel Mr.Death looking over your shoulder, smirking as you do all this. So far so much.

ER Diaries : The inevitable flatline

Hey! The joy of healing is certainly the greatest, but the dilemma of declaring death is worse No problem is big enough to be unsolvable.  No failure means you don't have another chance to try.  Every cardiac arrest is worth a CPR . So far so much

ER Diaries : Who is the hero?

Hey folks! For every life saved there are plenty of people you see in ER who take the credit . Their timely intervention is so remarkable that you can do nothing but address them.  The housekeeping taking credit for how timely her shifting the patient helped. The security explaining his difficulty in handling the quarrelsome bunch of attendants. The ambulance driver who took so many wrong turns just to get the patient here on time. The proud patients attendant who used his influence in reducing the hospital bill thereby reducing the financial burden of the family. While my nurse and I smile at each other. I tell her , everybody here is a hero. We ? We just did our job. That’s a routine. Nothing great about it ,right? She giggles and walks away to help a lady with her Foleys. Anything that induces adrenaline is welcome! LOL ! So far so much!

ER Diaries : School for Life

Hey all! Sometimes I'm amazed by how much I keep learning every day. Little facts, little life hacks, simple lessons to make life easier.  But honestly, the big lessons in life, the most important ones, are those that come with time. The only branch ER rejects is a branch of hemodynamically stable patients. We don’t put our hands off , like other specialities. We see that every body gets what they require in emergencies.  The discussions with consultants remind you of Med school. Things you forgot or things you never learnt. You sweep it all at once! ER - Amazing place to be in ! So far so much!

World Health day resolution : Health Insurance

Late post.Supposed to be posted on April 7. Wedding jewellery can wait . Insurance can’t ! There is nothing more than personal well being. You break one bone of yours and then see how all your savings shed all at once , like alopecia post chemotherapy. So this world health day. As soon as I’m employed my first investment will be my health insurance. Lots to talk about it.  Will do it in subsequent blogs. Bye!

ER Diaries : Classic case of Hypocalcemia

Classic case of Hypocalcemia  42 year old male presented to ER with painful carpal spasm since 30min after consuming alcohol sudden in onset. No ho fever / CP/SOB/ dehydration/ headache/ Kco DM not on medication. Smoker alcoholic Vitals BP 170/100mmHg Grbs 153mgdl Pr 90/min Rr 24/min Spo2 97% on room air Temp 98F Ecg LVH pattern  Examination  Red eyes prolly due to the influence of alcohol Aggressive demeanour  None of the systemic findings came positive except for trousseau sign + Pitting Pedal edema  I quickly sent abg and s calcium. S. cal was 7.8  K was 2.7 Na also on 127ish 10% Calcium gluconate slow Iv Slow Nacl 0.9% Took physician opinion. KCL he asked to start  But then for high concentration electrolyte icu admission required.                                                 They had insurance that didn’t work in our hospital,they refused. Discharge them against medical advice . Explaining them risk of tr

Declaring your neighbor dead : Ugly situations

Hey all  First experience for everything. This is the first and last breathe of yours for the day. There is always a first time and a second last chance. Though declaring a person dead is a simple routine, but undoubtedly a critical moment for a doctor, especially when the person dying is your neighbour.  Declaring death is not technically hard but it is weird and sad. It is an organized step-wise process of patient’s examination to assess the brain functions.  I take a day off from work. Refuse an exchange of duty of a co worker. Plan to go out to an amusement park gets popped by momma ,the dearest. I switch to YouTube. Get up. The neighbor aunty called up. Her mother in law is not keeping well.  Yeah . So ? Take your stethescope and Walk! Oh hello , Madam. Not well? LIke what went wrong. Tell me proper history. I didn’t want to go there for chronic backache! Am ERPhysician ! Just come.  Ok mom. Get the

ER Diaries : Charismatic Team Leads

hey People ! Like it or not, charisma matters when it comes to leadership. But we should be aware of the power that persuasion can have on us. Charisma is a force that can rally people Hi during difficult times, but it can also blind people and lead them to accept unwise actions, policies or conditions. And when it comes to leadership, political and professional, charisma matters more than we’d probably like to admit. Emotional suppression absorbs mental resources, deteriorates cognitive performance and impacts memory Keeping ourselves from getting influenced for a charismatic leader is tough.But our task is to remind ourselves that he or she is an ordinary human being. So far so much!