Will Someone Please Call A Surgeon?

...Who can crack my ribs and repair this broken heart? Hey everyone! I'm sorry that I have been gone, I've had some computer trouble - I just went out and bought a brand new laptop. I could only check my mail at work - If I had time and I'm sorry I didn't get to all of your e-mails. I'm going to continue posting - everyday I have been writing down what happened so I could just backtrack and we'll all be caught up. I'm posting one tonight, but the rest I'll put up over the next few days, its been a while! (No hearts are broken by the way - just the song I'm listening to...)

Today was an extremely stressful and busy day. I only interned today and I think that running all over one of California's largest hospitals all day was tiring both mentally and physically. Today's most interesting case was an emergency amputation. Joseph, a 46-year-old teacher, was brought in originally by lifeline for care of extensive burns from a house fire. The problem with burn victims is that you have to stabilize them quickly before infection can spread. It took no time for Joseph’s burns to become infected and his right arm was horribly infected. In result, we had to perform an emergency amputation. The reason for an amputation is so that the infection dwelling in his arm will not spread through his body and infect it as a whole. Joseph was brought into the surgical unit where his arm was cleaned with an anti-septic solution, and then checked and compared with the healthy arm. The arm was then cut; for me it was hard to watch. Imagine laying there before you are put to sleep... knowing when you wake up... you will no longer have your arm again? Joseph cried before he was drugged into sleep, and I don't blame him, I would have done the same. The stump was sutured closed to avoid any further infection, and then he was sent off for plastic surgery to take care of the burns that covered the other 60% of his body.

Now, let me tell you about how drama is spicing up with Mandy. Mandy has become my official little stalker; she keeps popping up everywhere. I see her on my way to work, I'm pretty sure I've seen her at work, I see her when I'm out, she is everywhere. I haven't called her out on it because I think it's cute; she’s trying to keep that chest in the game. Too bad it’s not working for her (she needs another cup).

In Your Last Moments...

You are completely aware of your surroundings, you feel no pain, and you only have 30 minutes left of your life. Whom would you say goodbye to? Who would you spend your 30 minutes talking to? Why them? What makes them so significant in your life that you have to talk to them? What is going through their minds as they say goodbye? Are they scared, or are they strong? There are so many questions that we think about when in this situation... who would you call? Today Michael was told that he only had 30 minutes to live. He was diagnosed with a severe case of internal bleeding due to blunt trauma. The doctors knew there was no saving him because his case was so intense because the doctors knew he should have been dead already. He first called his children, then his wife, and then finally his parents. He told them his feelings and reassured them with an "I love you". His eyes were full of tears before he could speak a sentence. As his mind ran faster and faster, we watched him get tired and more tired. His fear for death became a reassurance of peace and prosperity. Within the 30 minutes, he completely changed. We went from fearing death to accepting fate and responsibility of the life cycle. He held off death for 45 minutes aided with his family.

On the contrary, of work, I met with Paul's lawyers today. Paul was a very nice man and we had a bond, but he was far too courteous for his own good. He left me one of his two $150,000 life insurance policies. That crazy man left me money. Not only did he leave me money, he left me a condo in the city. His other $150,000 life insurance policy he left to the local school to start a scholarship program for students entering the medical field. I don't want to take his money! Paul was an amazing guy but wow. He left me a note and I've typed it below for you to read:

Dear Beau,

Since the day I have met you... you have done nothing but be kind. You
are a living replica of me, my beliefs, and my thoughts. Now, you may live
with the hundreds of stories I have shared with you, and you can share them
with your child one day. I'm going to leave you a start to life. Having a family predecease me,
I'm leaving you my condo and one of my life insurance policies. Stay strong young doctor,
for you will change the world.

With love,
Paul

Again, I'm consumed with sadness, I did not expect this. I'm headed to bed.

Happy One-Month Anniversary!

Today is the 31st post I have made in my blog; I've been consistent for an entire month! I honestly didn't think I had it in myself to post something every single day... including those were I could barely make out the keys on the keyboard. I'm excited that I have made it this long and I'll continue to post.

So today was another interesting day,... we had another sexual problem case. We had a patient, Jon (Age 18) come in because he could not become flaccid. In order to relieve the problem, we had to insert a needle into his erection (poor guy) and draw the any blood to make it flaccid. Twenty minutes later, he was still flaccid so we deemed him okay to go home, but had to get further tests and scans done to make sure there were no other problems. He claimed he wasn't on any performance pills, so the blood tests will confirm if he was or not.

So today was extremely nice out and on my lunch break, I went for a little cruise in my car. I was able to take a little run around town in my car with my windows down. I met Caleigh at a local restaurant/deli and we had a small lunch. Other than Mr. My-Penis-Isn't-Going-Down-Jon, the day was pretty normal. We had another patient in today for an abdominal trauma, where he needed stitches on his left side. From what I heard fell down a flight of stairs while carrying a box of china into his basement... I doubt any of the china made it. His tests came back with kidney damage because he has hematuria (blood in urine).

I'm exhausted today; I barely got any sleep last night. I'm trying to pass out tonight so I can make it through tomorrow!

I Think Sex is Overrated, So is Always Getting Wasted

HA! Yeah, right... I actually do find happiness by the bottle. Today was a good day; it was pretty busy in the emergency room. Today I was stuck doing scut work. Scut work is those stupid little tasks that the residents and attendings send you on because they don't have the time for it. That includes filling out charts, collecting samples, drawing blood, and moving patients. The only case I actually got in on today was one with a toddler, "Seth", who was admitted for swallowing two magnets. The two magnets, connected magnetically inside his intestines, completely ripping the lining. This causes toxins and bacteria to leak into the body and can potentially kill the child. However, since we knew of the problem ahead of time we were able to put Seth on antibiotics and were able to surgically remove the magnets. Seth is nice and safe with his mother, and under surveillance for the rest of the week.

It seems lonely at the other hospital now, I don't have anyone to go visit.

Super Sunday!

Today has been an amazing day, I only worked two hours! The emergency room was actually so slow today they sent some technicians home. I was excited; it meant that I could relax! I came home and gave Caleigh a call, so we rented a movie to watch. We rented Good Luck Chuck; it was a pretty funny and good movie. I love Jessica Alba, she's gorgeous... I love her little penguin panties. On Thursday I have an appointment with Paul's Lawyer, supposedly he left me something in his will. I wonder what he left me, I'm somewhat excited, and I wasn't expecting him to leave anything for me. This is probably why he was so happy that day... I don't know. I'm writing out of boredom right now, sorry. Caleigh went home because she needs to work tomorrow early in the morning. I'm now watching the hunting channel... remembering the times I used to go hunting as a child with my father. It’s funny, isn't it? I went as a child to kill animals and now for a living I help people... who are shot. I'm sorry I have nothing neat or interesting to tell you. I'll share some old emergency room stories with you by genre.

Saddest: The saddest emergency room cases are between Emily from the post 3:32 PM, and a 6-year-old rape victim I had three years ago. That was really heard, the poor little girl was traumatized... people really need to still be careful of family friends, they really put a new meaning to friend.

Most Gruesome: There was one man who fell off the roof of a home he was working on, and landed on a cast iron rod that was cemented into the foundation. He fell on the rod in such an angle that it tore his complete abdomen to pieces. (He lived.)

Weirdest: There was one day when one of my colleagues kept telling us that he was going to have a pile up that day, and sure enough we did. We almost never have pile-ups... and that day we had 15 admitted.

Keep Your Chest In The Game

I worked another long Saturday in my old emergency room since I don't intern during the weekend. I worked to the usual four o'clock. Today we had Sarah, a 14-year-old girl who was drop kicked by her 15-year-old brother. She had cyanosis (blue color of the skin due to deoxygenized hemoglobin), a very low pulse, and Dyspnea (shortness of breath). What does Cyanosis, A low pulse, and Dyspnea have in common? She has a Haemothorax. It's when your thoracic cavity fills up with blood. The thorax can generally hold a good percentage of your blood, if left untreated you will essentially bleed to death. To aid her injury we performed a tube thorascotomy; this drained the blood from the thoracic cavity. After the draining of the cavity, the blood had already begun to clot from the rupture point. The on call surgeon had stitched it and admitted her into the hospital for surveillance. Guess who is going to be grounded?
Caleigh thought I needed to get out, so we double dated for the first time today. We went to a nice local restaurant/bar for a good night of fun. We went with her friends Jennifer and Dillon, they are pretty cool, we all had a good time. The place we went to was an outdoor authentic Mexican restaurant. Our rustic cast iron table was located under an enormous willow tree which semi-secluded the four of us from the rest of the diners (except for about two other tables). They had a live band that played all night with a small little dirt dance floor for those who wanted to enthuse themselves. Let’s just say after about six shots of Juarez Silver Tequila, I was out there! Oh, and to add to the drama, GUESS who showed up? Yes, you got it, Mandy (with some guy). She scoffed at me as I drew Caleigh closer with a light kiss on the neck... I know, I'm a horrible person. She did have the balls to approach us and tell Caleigh how much of an asshole I am. Caleigh literally laughed in her face, like... literally... in her face. As she walked away, I thought I should give Mandy some advice from Cute is what we Aim For. So, I yelled after her... Keep that chest in the game! She replied with a death stare. Caleigh, Dillon, and Jennifer are not Cute fans (they don't even know who they are) but they still found the comment funny. She'll have no problem dropping her jaw to coax or do you-know-what to someone. I can speak on experience there. After our little escapade, we decided to take the bus back to my apartment, where we all are in the process of crashing. Well, they crashed, and I'm here writing in my blog. We had a good time for the first time in a while! Anyway, that bed is calling me!

Adrenaline Carried One Last Thought to Fruition

I would like to look back on the post I made on February 18th titled 3:32 PM. I went back today at work to the hospital morgue (which is extremely creepy, might I add) to see Paul. A dead person is truly not the same as a person who is living. He laid there, so lifelike... I just waited to see if his chest would constrict and expand. That's where I found myself standing there, waiting for something that isn't going to happen. His gray-ashen face had lines of mysteriousness - was he the person of which he spoke of? His cold dark eyes stared blankly at the ceiling with the expression of attainment... attainment of freedom. He is probably so much happier now... now that he is free of loneliness and free of pain. I stood there with empathy for what felt like an hour, then I said my goodbye, and then for me to leave and never see him again. Thank you again Paul, for the lessons you taught me. Apart from visiting Paul for the last time, I started my interning in Orthopedics. I've come rather familiar with orthopedic practices mostly because the amount of bone injuries I have seen at the other hospital. Today we had an 18-year-old boy named "Kyle" come in with a dislocated knee; I was able to shift it back into position without the help of the resident. I hold a lot of credential due to the fact that I've worked in a hospital before. My experience blows away all these new interns and their medical-school-only knowledge. This is for real my friend, time to put those books aside and learn medicine.

When Darkness Turns To Light, It Ends Tonight.

I'm posting this rather early today because I left my intern work early today. Today was a very bad, a very depressing one to be more in-depth. I have been waiting for this day for the past few weeks and now my work means almost nothing to me. Today Paul finally passed on, and I was not there to say goodbye. I wanted to be there so badly that way he had someone there with him, so he wasn't so alone. I feel absolutely horrible... I feel like the worse person in the entire world. The day he told me that I was his family; his optimistic and loving personality consumed my life and ultimately, changed me. I have spent at least 30 minutes every single day in his room, and if I could afford more time, I would. I spent even my lunch breaks in his room. I hope that I at least affected his life in a way where he felt more comfortable. I'm in a very depressed mood tonight and I'm spending the night alone. I hope that I'll feel better tomorrow, I need to work... and I hate to think about school and work at times like this.

R.I.P. Paul
Born: 1-12-53
Died: 3-06-08
Aged: 55 Years

When the darkness turns to light, it ends tonight. Goodnight Paul. Thank you for the lessons you taught me.

You're Looking Quite Sharp, Sugar.

Days like yesterday give us emergency room workers a reason to come in the next day. There is nothing better than having a hilarious or easy-going day. And hey, it's not as if I’m making fun of the guy for coming in... He did the right thing; I don't want to deter people from going into the emergency room for sexual-related problems. But I do love my job... I love it so much until it comes to days like today. Today we had a patient completely code-out on us from use of street drugs.

"Jonathon" a 16-year-old child was admitted after overdosing on heroin. The boy isn't even out of childhood and he has overdosed on heroin. Things like this make me afraid to have children, and I want children so badly someday. To stabilize a drug addict we have to put them through detox. We use a drug called methadone, which is an opoid agonist; it will help block some of the withdrawal symptoms. There is a newer, more expensive way to be detoxed and that’s through anesthesia, which virtually removes the withdrawal symptoms; this method is extremely pricey and is an almost guaranteed no-go by insurances.


So, I have looked back and have seen my comments of which I have contradicted myself. I have committed to Caleigh, yes... and I have said I love you and meant it. Today, Caleigh is back up on her feet again. She isn't back to normal, but she has more functionality and is starting to get off her pain medications. Her chest has a tint of yellow (so attractive), from the fading bruise. Her left ankle was set in a cast the other day, and her sprained wrist, is well, healing. But back up on her feet, she was so excited to return to work. She is looking quite sharp! Too bad they don't have coach brand casts; otherwise, she would have liked to get her ankle fixed!

Caleigh is on her way over; we're going to pop in a DVD and watch a nice movie so we can relax. I'm personally excited.

And You're, You're... Addicted to the Drug of Lust

Today was an interesting day; we had probably one of the most interesting and funniest cases that I have ever seen. There is nothing more hilarious than when someone comes into the emergency room with a sex related trauma. I give them kudos for their ability to show their faces once their abnormal crazy fetish has gone wrong. However, there is still nothing funnier when you have a staff holding their breath to try to keep themselves from laughing.

So, on the discussion on the addiction of lust, we have "Aiden" a 22-year-old with a penile trauma. He complains that after the "incident" he was unable to urinate, and suffered acute pain and swelling. We asked him how he suffered from this trauma, since it clearly did happen today. He told us he "slipped" out during intercourse, and it caused the trauma. When someone suffers from blunt penile trauma, you hear a loud "crack" followed by the penis quickly becoming flaccid, and then becoming discolored and swelling. Ready to hear how Aiden really got blunt penile trauma? Aiden has a disorder called Satyriasis, what is Satyriasis? Satyriasis is an addiction to sex. You may know the addiction of sex known as nymphomania, but it differs between men and women. Any who, back to our friend Aiden. Aiden and his girlfriend "Porsche" (Please, tell me, does that scream stripper to you?) are active, sexually. So, this is where the story gets funny and very NSFW. So, haha, every Monday is what they called Masturbation Monday. Okay, that alone is hilarious to me. Aiden came in at 6 am, about 6-7 hours after he experienced his trauma. He received his trauma from his couch. He gave details... but I just can't relay them... it's very TOO much information for our ears. But... whenever you sit on someone's couch, always keep in mind what was between those cushions. Aiden decided to go further in discussion to tell us about how they have a different day for different fetishes. After he was booked for surgery, he was also booked for psychological counseling.

Tick, Tick, Tick, Goes the Bomb

I think probably one of my favorite things to see in the emergency room is an appendix patient. I love the surgery and the emergency care we give a person who has appendicitis. Although appendicitis is extremely dangerous, if you come soon enough, there is no problem. The appendix is a ticking little bomb within your lower abdomen... you are just waiting for the little thing to explode.

Imagine "Michelle" a 32-year-old-woman who is rushed into the emergency room due to complaints of abdominal pains. She arrived with a severe case of appendicitis where her appendix burst on our watch. The problem with a burst appendix is that it releases toxins into your blood stream. This release of toxins can be deadly, but if you are under care, you are safe. We performed an appendectomy and put Michelle on an IV of an anti-biotic. She's resting now, safe and sound.

Today I visited Paul again; he was in a much happier mood. He wouldn't tell me why he was so happy but he said he had things straightened out for himself. He said that he has left himself a legacy and that there will not be a problem with his death anymore. He told me he has now accepted death and the fact that it has to inevitably come at sometime in life. Although he was happy, he was ultimately fragile. He has become very pale and bed ridden. The poor guy is coming close and I just can't watch.

I Bet You Would Like to Undress Me

I dragged myself from my warm and comfortable bed this morning to go to work. I hate working every single day of the week because there is going to be at least one day I'm going to have a hangover. Thankfully, I didn't have one this morning, just a severe headache. I want some free time in my schedule, but then, I don't as well. I'm very indecisive when it comes to work. Today was a very bland day there was nothing good today. It was a day filled with broken bones and cold suffers. Dr.Maynard has a predilection for broken bones, as do I, because setting bones is so much fun.
Tonight I'm all alone, Caleigh is going to spend the night at her parent's house, and she’s going to come to my apartment in the afternoon. She has been high off her ass lately; the painkillers make her so stupid. It's mean, but she becomes a stereotype with those painkillers. She doesn't know what is going on in the world, and it is hilarious. To her right now, those pain pills are a panacea; but in all reality, for me they are poison.

So, today, I was eyed by a patient in the hospital. It’s reassuring when people double take when they see you. Makes you feel good about yourself, and when you get a number, you feel even better. I'm not going to call, because I'm not interested, but still... makes me feel good.

Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo

Finally Saturday is here (and gone), too bad that Caleigh was in bad shape, I really wanted to go out tonight. It doesn't matter; I had an amazing time right at home.

So today I didn't have to intern, and I worked my normal job. I saw my long lost friend Paul. He is doing all right - he seems to be down. I spent a good amount of time in his room talking. He was concerned about Caleigh and now he wants to meet her; I told him that he would after she improves a little. Today our friend Allan, wait, do you remember Allan? The homeless guy? He came back for that nice warm bed and those free hot meals. He drank and smoked away all that change you guys left him in his coffee cup. He also racked up a phone bill when he called long distance; he's just checking to see how his buddies are doing on the eastern side (they finally did something right).

Now, in mi casa... we had our own little party... too bad I was the only one who could drink! I chugged that bottle as if tomorrow was never going to come! (I exaggerate excessively, I'm writing in my blog... I'm not that shitfaced!)

And after nine rounds with Jose Cuervo
They were counting me out and I was about to give in
Then after ten rounds with Jose Cuervo, I lost count and started counting again.

One round with Jose Cuervo... two rounds with Jose Cuervo... actually, I just love that song. I really had some martinis. I had a nicely stocked bar to make myself everything from apple to cape! It drove Caleigh crazy, but the foreplay was intense! After a long night of gentle fun, I'm logging out by blogging it up. Caleigh is sleeping right now and that comfortable and oh so very warm bed is screaming my name!