Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Toxic

On Monday, I participated in three delivieries. I was surprised the doctors let me do as much as they did on my first day since they didn't know me at all. Call overnight was painful. We had started inductions on a couple of ladies, and one didn't tolerate the medication at all. Part of night call responsibilities for this rotation involve returning messages to women calling the answering service with complaints. Surprisingly enough, I was actually able to answer a couple of the callers questions and prevent them from having to come in. I almost felt like a real doctor for a minute or two!

Today I attended an all-day toxicology conference. I had been looking forward to it for over a week as it meant an entire day outside of the hospital. Most of the speakers were well-prepared and had great powerpoint slides, but I just couldn't focus on anything. Normally, I'm interested in toxicology, as it's kind of a mystery to figure out what sort of medication the patient has taken to cause their symptoms. I just felt confused the entire time. I'm not sure that I gained a single thing out of the whole day, other than more calories than I should have consumed.

I had planned on going to the gym tonight (I went for a short run yesterday) and doing some homework, but that got dashed to pieces when my friend called in tears saying she was having a breakdown. Instead, I drove to her house where we watched "Lake Placid" and ordered Chinese food. I really didn't want to go over at all, but she's so unstable emotionally that I just felt like I had to. It's hard to be supportive of someone who internalizes everything and thinks everyone's out to get her. In reality, I'm pretty sure she is not much of a concern to everyone else. I also went over there partly because I felt kind of guilty for asking her if she's been taking her medication.

And then there was the 30 minutes I spent listening and supporting my other co-worker whose pregnant fiance is obviously having gallbladder issues.


Maybe it shouldn't come as any surprise that I often just want to sit on the couch in front of the TV and not answer the phone.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna love the L&D stories. But, only if they have a good ending. You'll have to warn me so that I don't read any sad ones....for the next seven months anyway.

~~Silk said...

"I often just want to sit on the couch in front of the TV and not answer the phone." Ditto. You ARE allowed to!

Chris said...

Watching Lake Placid and eating Chinese food? You gals crack me up! I thought when a girlfriend was crying, you watched "Ghost" and ate Ben and Jerrys.....

Chris
My Blog

Anonymous said...

Love those toxicology seminars!

I think it must be amazing to help someone else give birth to a child.

Anonymous said...

Was this the day that I called you
upset? I guess the old saying is true that things come in three's.