Visited a friend who voluntarily committed herself to our local hospital's psychiatric ward yesterday and today. Wondering how the fark anyone can feel better in a place like that. It's straight out of a movie, paper clothing, patients wandering around hearing voices, no stimulation. I know not all psychiatric wards are like that, but this one sucks. I am worried about her.
steve
Big Hand
Songs Of A Lost World *CRUMPET BOY*
Visited a friend who voluntarily committed herself to our local hospital's psychiatric ward yesterday and today. Wondering how the fark anyone can feel better in a place like that. It's straight out of a movie, paper clothing, patients wandering around hearing voices, no stimulation. I know not all psychiatric wards are like that, but this one sucks. I am worried about her.
If they have you as a friend supporting then there's little left to worry about
Visited a friend who voluntarily committed herself to our local hospital's psychiatric ward yesterday and today. Wondering how the fark anyone can feel better in a place like that. It's straight out of a movie, paper clothing, patients wandering around hearing voices, no stimulation. I know not all psychiatric wards are like that, but this one sucks. I am worried about her.
If they have you as a friend supporting then there's little left to worry about
Thanks for saying so, steve. Unfortunately, from two prior experiences, I know that support and friendship is not always successful in keeping someone from taking their life. I wish we were farther along in the treatment of mental illness.
Friday morning I left my home at 6:30 happy on my bike! Had a little elective programme with two things. We are kinda closed down during the summer holiday period, so we only have planned surgery on one surgery room.
Everything went as planned, and the other went home as planned 14:45.
15:30 we got a patient for the 4th surgery in a few days, but something kept bleeding in his brain. We started the surgery up, and everything was fine. The younger doctor started the surgery, and meanwhile the older doctor called, that we had a motorcycle trauma!
We had to put a thing to measure his pressure in his brain. Usually there has to be two to do that, but since I was stuck at the other surgery room, the older doctor had to do it alone. The intercranial pressure was amazingly high, so the patient came directly from our neuro-intensive to our neuro-emergency room, where I meanwhile had called reinforcement from a nurse from another surgery department and we have also called an “older” surgeon to help us.
The first older doctor took over the surgery on the patient from before, and the younger doctor joined me and the called okder dictor to the motorcycle-guy at the neuro-emergency room. We tried to put in a drain to his brain, to get some spinal fluent, but only a few drops came, so we had ti take him to the surgery room, to remove 1/2 of his cranoum...
Since we they still did surgery on the other room, I opened up another surgery room, found all the equipment, had the two other doctors to unpack the equipnent for me while the patient was taken into the room. Everything had to go really fast...
We began the surgery, and I tell you it was a bloody affair! There was so much blood on the floor, that we skated around, my scrub was soaked in blood, and my shirt under my scrub was blood stained...
Around 22:30 or so, we finished the patient, and sent him away without the craniom bone plate, which we sent to the bone bank - yes, such thing really exists, so he can get it replaced, when the brain isn’t swollen anymore... We had to deliver the plate ourselves, to make sure it came to the right place.
Dinner (the rest of my fortunately huge lunch) at 22:45 before we had to remove our equipment from: neuro-emergency room (we just left everything there late in the afternoon, because we had to hurry to the surgery room), the transportable table from the intercraniel pressure aurgery (the first surgery he got) our surgery room covered in blood AND the other surgery room from the brain surgery we started the afternoon with (the one with the 4 surgerys in a few days)
Done tidying up, we called the cleaning staff and went home a couple of minuttes after midnight.
I was almost crying by the thought of riding home on my bike, eventhough it’s only 7,5 kilometers... so I decided to take a cab, but when I came out in the warm night, I decided to take the bike anyway. The daughters and the dogs met me close to my home, and we walked together home.
Home around 00:35 Wanted to sit for a few minuttes before a shower and bed - I was really sweatty after a effing busy day, where I had to be 3 places at a time, and after the ride home on the bike, because it was hot hot hot...
00:55 the phone rang... The mototcycle-patient was crashing, and we had to do his 4th surgery(in 12 hours) Wasn’t even done sweatting when I came back to the hospital (this time in my car!!!)
Found all equipment again, and we opened the other side of the cranium. Not so much as the first time, and we would also replace the cranium bone plate again after the surgery.
When we opened dura, thick almost black blood was pouring out like a giant pimple... it kept on coming, and after emptying 300 ml old blood out, the pressure was now nice and low. We replaced the cranium bone plate again and around 4’clock the patient returned to neuro-intensive.
After a qiuck tidying up, I went home 4:30, took my shower with “a few hours delay” and went to bed 4:50 in the morning.
So happy my daughters met me on my way home - I spoke to then for 30-45 mins that day...
Now I might return to do a 5th surgery on the mototbike one, hope not... we probably only have one more shot in the gun...
The good thing is, actually there are 4 good things:
1. The nurse I had with me is rather new. She has only been with us a year on thursday - she said she had the best call ever!
2. The surgery room was nice and cold - could understand that it has beed a very very warm night according to what my friends wrote on Facebook
3. The young doctor made his surgery no. 100
4. Also the young doctor told me, that I WAS HIS FAVORITE!!! Probably the most important thing!!!
Ohhh the patients (both of them) will probably survive...
Can’t wait to begin my summer holiday part two on thursday!
Yikes! Do you keep track of any of the patients post-surgery or is just constant turnover?
Rarely... only if we have to do a resurgery or a new surgery or if it is was a very very special case...
TBH I can’t always telle the difference between the patients - nor even remember if it is a male or a female, young or old when the whole train is going...
But I keep telling myself that is my way to keep a distance to all the horrible things I have my hands in every day.
I think it is ok not to be focused on “this is a 19 years old you g woman” - it would get us too emotional, and then we would loose focus on the surgery. When the cover is on the patient, we only focus on the task
Not always being able to remember each patient helps me to not take my work with me home. Of course I will always remember unusual situations and also patients, but most of the time I can’t or don’t. I belive every patient has to get the best treatment, and by “forgetting” who is under the cover, helps us to give a fair and equal treatment.
Been a right old week here. The summer home I manage had a party of 9 check in last Saturday. All students having a summer blow out after their exams & results & staying for a whole week. I always tell the guests if anything's wrong, then call me & I can be there in about 5 minutes. About 9pm that night a whopping great thunderstorm came in & I had partaken of a couple of beers when the phone rang. "We have no electricity" Was the message. I couldn't drive as it's zero tolerance here & in any case the roads were pretty much under standing water. A cab would have taken over half an hour, so I decided to walk the 10/ 15 minute walk in the torrential rain to the house. The house is on 2 levels & the cleaners & I use the garage & utility room as a HQ/ storage space & don't let the guests use it. Guess where the breakers are....... Yep. The other side of the locked door to the guests. So I get there (soaked) & go in through the garage door with my mag-light & flip up the breakers that the lightning had shut down. Immediately there was a big cheer from upstairs & as I came out of the garage a few of them had come out to see this very wet goth closing the big door. They invited me in & offered my a palinka (result). I then went around & checked everything was working properly. Everything except some downstairs circuits were okay, so I had to go back outside to the box where the meter is & sure enough, there was another breaker to flip. Leccy sorted. However, the lightning had hit the outside cable TV connector & fried the media box & TV upstairs I explained there was nothing I could really do until I had reported to the cable provider on the Sunday & even then they prolly wouldn't be out until Monday. The guys were not too bothered to be without a goggle box for a couple of days & after another palinka I made my way home in a heavy thunderstorm. I called the house owner (who lives in London) to let her know what had happened & I even gave the guys at the house the "secret key" to the garage in case the breakers went again. Because I don't have written authorisation to avct on her behalf with the cable peeps or the insurance peeps she had to spend Sunday calling them & we got an appointment from the cable people for Tuesday. I called the guys on the Monday & told them & also told them that they usually come between 12 & 4. Tuesday, I get a call from the cable peeople (UPC) at 9:30 to say they'll be there in 20 minutes. Eeek! I called the house & they were clearly still not quite awake after partying the night before (& why not? It's their holiday), but they were great & the guy replaced the connectors & confirmed the media box had shuffled off its mortal coil. He couldn't install a new one as he needed a TV to make sure it configured correctly & the TV was also dead. So we had to wake up the downstairs guys & install the new box there. I asked if we could have a loan TV until we had ours fixed & was told no. So the owner got in touch with the insurance people to ask if their repair agent could give us a loaner in the interim. Their repair agent, however, had retired & so we had to tell them. They put us in touch with an alternative who could give us a loan unit while the other was being resurrected. Got that today & have just been round to install it aswell as giving the guests a couple of bottles of bubbly to apologise, but all the time they didn't seem bothered to not have a TV as they spent the week at the lake & just came back & got sloshed in the evenings. Fingers crossed nothing happens tonight as I am going out to get utterly shedded. .....and breathe......
Been a right old week here. The summer home I manage had a party of 9 check in last Saturday. All students having a summer blow out after their exams & results & staying for a whole week. I always tell the guests if anything's wrong, then call me & I can be there in about 5 minutes. <snip out act of God> .....and breathe......
See? Technology isn't worth all the trouble. Give those kids some sticks and stones to play with and tell them they'll like it.
Seriously, though, I could never be a landlord/caretaker. You did well, steve, trying to keep everyone satisfied.
Well... Monday on a well I don’t even know what day it is today!
All I know is that I woke up, and was very tired. Came behind my morning schedule, and had to decide whether I wanted to poop or brush my teeth, because I didn’t have time to both... I ended up with brushing my teeth at work, which I plenty of time to do, but we will turn back to that later...
After stress-pooping, I was already 3 mins. behind my morning schedule, so I had to hurry...
Entering work 7:13 two mins before “curfew” - and realised everything was very very quiet...
I knew the surgery department had a work shop day out of the house, but me and a colleague had to ve on call to emergency surgery - the detail here was just that my colleague wasn’t there!!! Waited a short while, and texted him...
He was HOME!!! As I was supposed to be, and only go to the hospital, if I was called!!! OTHERWISE I had to go to the workshop 8:30... certainly not at work, as I APPARENTLY wasn’t supposed to meet at...
So today I went to work on a day I shouldn’t go to work...
Did get an opportunity to brush my teeth though, AND we actually had to remove a braintumor on a patient anyway, so in the end it ended “ok”...
Well... Monday on a well I don’t even know what day it is today!
All I know is that I woke up, and was very tired. Came behind my morning schedule, and had to decide whether I wanted to poop or brush my teeth, because I didn’t have time to both... I ended up with brushing my teeth at work, which I plenty of time to do, but we will turn back to that later...
After stress-pooping, I was already 3 mins. behind my morning schedule, so I had to hurry...
Entering work 7:13 two mins before “curfew” - and realised everything was very very quiet...
I knew the surgery department had a work shop day out of the house, but me and a colleague had to ve on call to emergency surgery - the detail here was just that my colleague wasn’t there!!! Waited a short while, and texted him...
He was HOME!!! As I was supposed to be, and only go to the hospital, if I was called!!! OTHERWISE I had to go to the workshop 8:30... certainly not at work, as I APPARENTLY wasn’t supposed to meet at...
So today I went to work on a day I shouldn’t go to work...
Did get an opportunity to brush my teeth though, AND we actually had to remove a braintumor on a patient anyway, so in the end it ended “ok”...
I loved reading this, ninja! When I'm running late (always) I finish drinking my coffee on the walk to work and then brush my teeth when I arrive.
Just a brain tumor removed today? Gee, you're so lazy.
I'm emotionally fried. First day of school for the spawn today. We just found out who his teacher is last night!
I was so preoccupied during work today worrying about how his day would go and I made a careless mistake. 100% certain I was more concerned about today than he was. When will I learn?
