You're Just Getting OLD!

So, after spending a few days in the emergency room, I can give you several "illnesses" that do not require an emergency room. Or, as one of the gastroenterologists put it when I called to ask about a patient, "These are the people who are costing the system millions! Tell the patient that!" I didn't feel like giving the patient a lesson about economics, so I am telling you about it instead.

1. Old woman who is "just not hungry." Her daughter was freaking out wanting her mother admitted. I'm sorry, but all labs were completely normal. What can I say? She's OLD! And, it's not an emergency! Go to your primary care doc in the morning.

2. Wanting to get a test that she missed the appointment for. Sorry, you will have to reschedule the colonoscopy. We can't have it performed at 10:00 at night just because you showed up at the emergency department.

3. Urinary tract infection. Well, maybe this could become an emergency. Not very likely in a young woman, though. And, the main reason the girl came to the emergency room was because she didn't have insurance. (This is a whole different topic)

These are just a few examples. However, I have also seen plenty of people who did need to be there including the guy I got to suture up who had fallen 20 feet...COOL. Oh yeah...he was okay. (just in case you thought I was being insensitive)

However, if your mom is getting old and it is making you sad, that is DEFINITELY not a good reason to take her to the emergency room.

Today, I am happy I am going to be a Doctor

Let me start this post by saying that I am very grateful for nurses. However, I remembered today why I didn't want to be a nurse. I walked in to pre-round on a patient this morning. This was a very large woman with very swollen legs that had some sort of weird rash on them. As I prepared to leave, I asked her if there was anything she needed. She asked if I could rub some lotion on her legs. Now, remember that there are not too many things in this world that gross me out, but these were some pretty gross legs. I hesitated for a moment and then told her, "Well, I can actually find your nurse and have him or her do that." So, I found her nurse, and he may have liked his job, but as I walked off after asking him to re-apply the lotion ("It puts on the lotion!" --name that movie), I could sense that that moment he wished he was a doctor, too. When I told the resident about it, she said, "You didn't put it on did you? You know, that's not your job." Although I have and will continue to deal with many gross things, today I am happy that I am going to be a doctor.

Flowers Bring Me Happiness

At first, I bet you were thinking these flowers were from my husband. No, these flowers are from a great friend. I was having a crummy day yesterday, and I told a friend about it. Well, today there was a knock at the door while I was home for lunch. I opened it, and there were flowers with a card that said, "I hope today is not a 'grumpy' day." What a nice friend! She made my day. Anyway, I just thought I would show a pretty picture of my flowers from a great friend!

The Whizzinator

So, we had a lecture about substance abuse today, and we were discussing different ways that people cheat the system. One particular way that athletes have tried to cheat the system is with "The Whizzinator." I wanted to post a picture, but none of the pictures were very appropriate. The whizzinator is a fake penis that comes in three colors (to match your skin, of course) to slide over a real one. It has a heating element and a place for someone else's urine to be put in. The company is no longer in business after a professional athlete was found to have one in his luggage at an airport a few years ago. And, people go to even greater lengths than just putting on a fake penis. Some have even catheterized themselves to remove their own urine and put someone else's urine in their bladder right before a drug test. GROSS!

Anyway, I thought it was funny--and sad--what people will do to avoid being caught with different substances in their urine. The moral of the story: Don't do drugs!

Privacy Issues

Some of you may be wondering why I haven't posted anything for quite some time. Well, for starters, I was on surgery for the six weeks, and it was kind of exhausting. Now, I am in psychiatry at the VA. This produces, as you can imagine, many funny and fascinating stories. However, I am always concerned about privacy issues, and if a family member of a patient were ever to stumble on my blog and recognize the story. So, that is why I haven't posted stories. This may mean that the Annals of a Med Student will not really be updated. I apologize.

On an exciting note, I am about 95% sure now that I am going to do emergency medicine! Hooray for making a decision. I am applying for an away rotation this fall at UT Southwestern in Dallas. We are hoping to end up somewhere south of here...maybe away from snow for awhile.

Well, I hope all of you are doing well! Sorry for the lame entry...I just thought I would explain my predicament! :-)

Salt Lake American Idol Auditions

Honestly, why did the girl from Rathdrum, Idaho have to be the one who was so proud of the fact that she walked around town with no shoes? Thanks for perpetuating the stereotype...thanks.

Decisions...Decisions...

This is one of those blog entries where I just talk about what's on my mind. In about six months, I will begin interviewing for residency. I will tell you what, trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up is a hard decision! I am grateful that we get to make decisions, but I don't want to have to make this decision. There are so many factors that play a role: lifestyle, family, interests outside of medicine, being excited to go to work each day...It is definitely a hard process. I think I've gotten too used to just going to more school and never having to make a decision, but now it's time. I know I don't want to do internal medicine, OB/GYN, or peds (even though I love kids). I do know that I like surgery and family practice, and I am excited to see what emergency medicine is like. March of next year, I will know where I am going for residency. Although the process of med school has been painful at times, it is crazy how fast it is going by. Well, for those of you who have read this far, thanks for letting me speak my mind.