Bienvenidos!

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Strange days

SuperMoo and I had a mini paycheque-day date tonight. We went to the cinema (not a two-for-one day! Woo!), ordered pizza and bought a bottle of wine that cost more than �5! Little things, I know, but something we wouldn't have done on my student budget.

Yesterday was a difficult day. I hadn't been on the ward more than 15 minutes when the crash bleep went off: ran to the other side of the ward to find TB jumping up and down on a women's chest and the consultant trying to get an endotracheal in her. There were so many people there that there wasn't really anything for me to do: they asked me to grab the notes and read out a summary of her history. I didn't even do that very well as they couldn't hear me and the nurse took over. She didn't make it. The patient, I mean, not the nurse.

Then last night I was on call in MAU. It just reminded me how rubbish I am at making differential diagnoses and management plans. It would be a lot easier if patients came in with a nice potted history straight from a textbook, but they don't. It's always nonspecific and often turns out to be nothing. But you can't say that. You have to investigate things just in case it's that one time it's something really serious. Patients are strange creatures. Strange and fabulous.

11:16 p.m. - 2008-08-29

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