01 January 2008

Happy New Year - finally

So, instead of drinking myself into oblivion last night, I did the whole skint student thing and actually offered to cover a shift at the hospital. Let's face it, if I can barely afford to feed myself post-christmas, I certainly can't afford to drink myself rotten.

Looking back, hindsight is an amazing thing, and the medical assessment unit (which is where people from A&E often come) probably wasn't the best place to be for new year's eve. On the plus side, I saw a whole barrel load of new things last night.

I spent the actual midnight in radiology with a sick patient. He needed a chaperone and I got delegated. Turns out he had a massive pleural effusion which needed draining. Not only did the radiographer show me the xray and explain it to me, I then had to go help the doctor out (just by passing bits and bobs) when he tapped it. I really am such a geek sometimes. It helps that the patient was absolutely wonderful, when I explained my interest he was more than happy for me to ask questions of the doctor!

I also happened to see my first fit from start to finish. Don't get me wrong, I've seen lots of people fitting, but I've never seen how it starts. I was just heading down the ward from one patient towards the desk when my epileptic patient started to arch his back. It actually took me a minute for the penny to drop. Luckily instinct took over and I pulled him onto his side while simultaneously shouting for help and pulling the alarm. Who says women can't multitask?! This young gentleman had had a complete skinful and become totally paraletic. He'd had 3 or 4 fits in A&E, goodness knows how many before that, and another 2 while I was on the ward. What a way to end 2007 - stripped naked in your own urine being washed by a nurse while post-ictal. Happy New Year!

1 comment:

MB said...

It is strange seeing an epileptic fit from start to finish - I remember that from my old job. I was scared to death! I worked my weekend away oncall and managed to get home on New Years eve morning.

Happy New Year Merys.