THE HOUSEJOB CHRONICLES: CHAPTER 6B: MEDICINE

Hello, welcome here again.

I will continue my journey with you.

As always, if you are enjoying it, kindly share with others and leave a gracious like.

Let ride in…..

LITIGATION?

There were sour experiences in the past where court cases came up and these experiences made my seniors extra careful with the process of managing patients. They went extra miles to make sure everything was in place. There was always a crosscheck of every written word and supervision was followed strictly.

“Rose, make sure you write the name of the patient on the front and back of the sheet” my senior mentioned as I wrote her findings down on the sheet of paper (I was in a center that was yet to be computerized).

CLINICS

We had two clinics in a week and they were long.

It took a while to get used to them but after a while I did. The clinic was a unique part of my time in this unit. I had to do many things at the same time. I was designated with collection of data from patients, I also had to see new patients, old patients and still review with a senior.

After the clinics, we had ward rounds and those bit into chunks of the remaining day.

HISTORIC WARD ROUNDS

The ward rounds were excruciating.

We often spent long hours on a single patient and that meant standing for long hours and this was irrespective of the number of patients available. It was one of the moments I dreaded because there was no time frame for the among of time we were going to stand. However, it was not everyone that made us stand that long and we had a favourite who will looked forward to having lead the rounds especially as there was going to enough teaching and a lighter atmosphere.

I specially looked forward to having this very senior person come around

There is no way my story about this unit would be complete without mentioning about the ward rounds.

Interestingly, most of the patients we co-managed felt more loved as they knew we would come everyday and still spend a reasonable time explaining and taking them along with us in the management of their conditions.

CALLS

Now, I had about three calls I was to respond to and they were the unit call, departmental calls which could either be a ward call or medical team on call, then the general casualty call (which could either be once or twice in a month).

All these were preferably best not to be but on the same day, however, it also meant that the days of the week were scarcely free.

There were unit weekend calls that often interrupted the weekend plans. This call was not meant to be a tasking but for my unit, it remained a demanding call.

I already told you about meticulous.

There was a patient that came in during one of these calls that became a core painful memory for me. I’ll share my experience without sharing details about the condition or anything patient sensitive.

That would be shared in the next part.

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I hope to see you in next part.

Continue to stay safe and God bless.

#W.O.L.A.P

THE HOUSEJOB CHRONICLES: CHAPTER 4B: PAEDIATRICS

In the last part, I ended it with a hanging sentence.

I will continue it here.

Now, even though the emergency unit was the first point of contact for all the patients before dispersing them to appropriate units, it remained a place where some patients remained for a while under care even though they were no longer in an emergency state.

The emergency was a bubbling space and attention was needed frequently.

Gratefully, I worked with people I enjoyed and eased work sometimes.

But there is an aspect I am yet to talk about and it is part of the reasons the previous part was ended on a hanging sentence.

HERCULEAN CALLS

The calls in pediatrics were not a joke. They were the main reason that this unit was exerting.

Now, it was one thing to be in the emergency unit and another to continue a call there. It felt like a continuous journey with small spaces to breathe.

Being on a call in the children emergency unit also involved being in charge of the wards and hands were few.

Two house officers manning about 4 wards plus incoming emergency cases

Children being children could be demanding and their lines difficult to site. One had to be mindful and careful when attending to them and hence despite the bulk of patients to see, one could not rush processes with children.

It was hard to have a proper blink at night.

And this will not stop the fact that one had to be ready the next morning to continue work as usual excepted to be fresh and properly composed.

On some of the nights, the calls from the ward were excessive and sometimes uncalled for, however despite that one still needed to be available.

Sometimes, attention was needed in several places and the tension caused one to be on the edge.

Yet one had to maintain composure because everyone would be on edge at that point and as the doctor you had to be the least person on edge.

VAMPIRE?

On my calls, I did so many blood transfusions that I felt like a vampire.

There was a call that I did about three blood transfusions almost simultaneously and at the same time my attention was being called to attend to incoming patients. My colleague was attending to a critical in one of the wards and I had to attend to the different demands placed on me.

Transfusing blood products meant giving premedication and then monitoring to avoid reaction and also keeping vital signs in check.

With children, extra attention was needed and in times where I was attending to many children I still needed to pay attention to the ones I was transfusing making sure the transfusion went smoothly.

There was an incidence I had of transfusion reaction where the child began coughing when the transfusion started. I was transfusing platelets and was almost done with the first bag to commence the next one when the child began to to cough. I immediately stopped the transfusion. Commenced intravenous fluids, steroids and observed. a senior colleague was standing by to monitor then afterwards the coughing subsided and was relieved. we waited for about 20 minutes before commencing the second transfusion to which the patient did not react to.

This experience scared me because I had never experienced a reaction in all of the transfusions I had administered but once again it stressed the importance of paying close attention and observing patients during the first 10 minutes of commencing transfusion as that was a crucial time in notice transfusion reactions.

But this was not the unit I did more calls…

Talking about calls, the neonatal ward was a different ball game but that would be a story for another part…..

On one of those days….

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I missed last week and I hope to cover up with a post this week.

If you are enjoying this series, kindly let me know and until next part, continue to stay safe and God bless.

#W.O.L.A.P

BlogMas 3: Day 4

PREAMBLE

Today was all shades of interesting and of course I will share it with you.

Today is the fourth day of this year’s edition of Blogmas and I am grateful for the opportunity to share with you my daily experiences.

Okay….

Let’s ride in….

BITTERNESS IS A DISADVANTAGE

Ephesians 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (KJV)

Bitterness is built up from anger. It slowly grows until you can taste it in your mouth.

Gall. Bile

Yesterday, I mentioned apathy and empathy. Bitterness is apathy, hatred and a desire to revenge.

Bitterness is very consuming even though it may creep in unannounced.

Today, the Holy Spirit specifically said to my heart “Do not allow bitterness” and that set the tone for the rest of my day.

Obeying this word guided my day and added to the confirmation that when you walk with God in sincerity, and obedience even your weakness will become stepping stones for deeper experiences.

ASSISTANT

I did not expect to be part of a surgical team today but I did participate in a surgery.

Unlike previous times where I stood at the last place because many other heads were superior than me or there were enough heads to partake, today I was the sole assistant.

I had learnt a bulk of surgical instruments and today, that knowledge was multiplied.

An surgical outreach was organized and I thought I was only going to participate by doing peripheral activities, however an older doctor (who happens to be my father as well) gave me a srcub to join.

“I hope you can manage”

“Yes. It is not my first time”

True, it was not my first time of being in a surgical theater but it was my first time of actively participating during the surgery of which I did not expect.

After applying the surgical aseptic technique of cleaning my forarms and hands I wore the surgical gloves available.

Mind you, this was after I had been shown about three times on how to wear it, my instructor being very helpful and patient with me.

My instructor who happened to be a familiar person guided me through the mathematics of diluting local anasthesia, gave me a run down of the instruments we were going to use and then told me I was going to assist him.

From the beginning until the end of the surgery, he gently guided me, taught and asked me questions to test my level of understanding regarding the case. Then, he gave me opportunities to ask as well, which I did.

The clean incision made along the crease of the patient’s skin was sutured properly after we had completed the surgical procedure leaving a very fine scar which become difficult to notice after healing.

I was content with myself because I had recalled appropriately and was able to answer most of the questions I was asked. The knowledge which I had revised multiple times and often times still forgot or mixed up flowed out when I needed it even though I had not intentionally prepared for the surgery.

As someone who struggled with hemophobia from a young age until early adulthood, I am grateful for the progress I have made and today I was completely at ease without feeling nauseated or troubled through out the surgery.

This brings me to say that being ready is advantageous.

Be ready for what you are praying for

I have become more intentional about praying for the capacity and grace to be ready for the things I desire. It is one thing to pray for something, it is another to be ready for it.

Be ready with God’s word

Being ready with God’s word does not happen by accident. It is a result of internal deposition of the word of God over time.

1 Peter 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: (KJV)

To add to this part, I made vlog some months ago on a topic similar. Watch it below:

Kindly subscribe, like and comment after watching😊

ENJOY HEALTHY CONVERSATION

I internally thrive on healthy conversation.

It is a fuel for one of my love tanks

I love conversations than can be flexed from being very serious to being humourous to being creative and impactful.

Today was filles with such. Aside from the humour that filled the shared theater, I got to spend time with friends and family with whom I engaged in meaningful conversations with.

Shared theater: The outreach caused that. We shared the theater with other surgeons. My instructor and I used a corner while other surgeons used the other spaces.

After spending time on the outreach ground and having a hilarious journey back to the nearest place close to church, I made my way to choir practice.

ENJOY HAPPY PEOPLE

I love seeing happy people.

Another source for one of my love tanks

II love seeing expressive happy people because they serve as a motivation for me.

Choir practice was another place I shared in the joy and company of other people.

If you are a very happy and expressive person, there is a high chance than when I meet you, I will smile more whenever I see you.

That is me saying your presence makes me happy without you trying so hard.

TOO BUSY TO ENJOY? Is a podcast I made months ago with a similar theme.

NOW TO YOU

Do you recall easily?

What fills your love tank?

What kind of conversations do you enjoy more?

Are you ready for what you have been praying for?

CONCLUSION

I recently passed a medical exam that would give me the opportunity to expand as a medical doctor. If you have been following this blog, I graduated from medical school on March 2021. I am not yet a specialist in any field and I still have the opportunity to explore many options before settling for one.

Obeying an instruction given by the Holy Spirit can change the trajectory of your day, week, month and year.

I pray you listen and obey.

Thank you for being here. Until the 5th day of this series, stay safe and God bless.

#daughterofabba