August 29th, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
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Last week a trailer less than a mile from our house experienced a small explosion. Trailers, which seldom explode on their own (without undiscovered volcanoes or CIA drones with missiles) was concealing a meth lab.
What can you say? If I weren’t an emergency physician I’d say, “Shocking! Ghastly! Unbelievable!” But I do what I do so I say, “Huh, how about that.”
I’ve lost much of my capacity to be shocked. I have seen meth users, and probably meth dealers. I’ve known and enjoyed the company of alcoholics and Valium addicts. I’ve cared for murderers and the murdered (albeit briefly in the case of the latter). I’ve been involved in the evaluation of sexual assault victims, car thieves, drunk drivers and child abusers. A meth lab is, in its own way, kind of small stuff.
What does it say about me? I don’t know. It may suggest that I’m cynical. Or it may mean that I’m cold. Or it may mean, as I suspect it does, that I’m just realistic. I know the world is full of drugs and brokenness. The ER, where I work, is just the place where all of it arrives in its fermented, fully concentrated, “contents under pressure” form. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
August 28th, 2010 by Nicholas Genes, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion
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Somebody at Apple likes Goldfrapp. They’ve used her latest album for this tutorial and the sublime Seventh Tree was pictured on the first Apple descriptions of the Remote app. It’s nice when a monolithic institution shows a little personality. Of course, my interest in Goldfrapp is mostly professional: Who else has sung as well about ending up in an emergency department?
*This blog post was originally published at Blogborygmi*
August 27th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion
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If you’re considering primary care medicine as a career someday and want some great insights into what it takes to become a good one, Dr. Rob clarifies the personality type and tolerances required.
So what does it take to be a specialist? Exactly the same. Except the part where he describes a possible need for outward social status and only working on left fingers.
Just realize that those extra years of training that we not-so-specialists endure are really there just so we can completely forget most of what we once knew and how to fill out discharge paperwork.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
August 21st, 2010 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories
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Here’s my column in the August edition of Emergency Medicine News. A person who seems powerless may hold an entire emergency room hostage!
Magic Words: ‘I Have Chest Pain’
Propped in her bed, frail and weak, the little grandma sighed. Her complaints were legion: weakness, poor appetite, poor sleep, joint pain, cough, dry mouth. Her daughter, eyes rolling, was trying to balance three reasonable emotions. She desperately wanted to go home and rest after spending the day in the ER. She truly wanted to avoid her mother’s admission to the hospital, and she was, graciously, sympathetic to the physician who brought the bad news.
‘Mrs. Adkins, I know you feel poorly, and I’m sorry. But I have to say, I can’t find any reason to admit you to the hospital. You’re right as rain. Isn’t that great?’
‘You mean, I’ve been here all this time, and had a gallon of blood drawn, and all them x-rays and a CAT scan, and there ain’t nothing wrong? I can’t believe that. I feel terrible.’ When she said the word terrible, she smacked her lips and looked away. She propped her hands on her lap and intertwined them; and she managed a subtle, but expressive, sniffle. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
