When I went to the doctor last Friday, part of the workup involved sticking a Q-tip up my nose to swab for influenza A. Sure enough, it came back positive--I really did get the flu. Talk about bad luck. On the bright side, I'm feeling a lot better now, and I don't have a fever any more. I just don't have any voice--none whatsoever. That made for a pretty hilarious PBL session yesterday. My group tends to be pretty rowdy, and sometimes it's hard to get a word in edgewise. Well, I was in no condition to duke it out with anyone, but my group members were awesome. Whenever I tried to whisper anything, the rest of the group would just stop talking. I don't think I've ever been this nicely accomodated in PBL when I wanted to say something! I had to leave a few times for uncontrollable coughing fits, but otherwise, the session was great. Ironically, the case this week is entitled, "Another Cough," and our seminars yesterday and today have been about lung infections. Here I am, continuing my class's pattern of someone coming down ill with the pathology of the week. I'm just glad that I didn't get sick at the end of the week, when we're going to be covering lung cancer. :-P
I went to clinic this afternoon, and my preceptor was sick too. The weather is still lousy, but all of the patients showed up except one of the 4 o' clocks. So we got done right at 5:00, and we mutually agreed to go home early and review my patient logs next week. I can't even imagine what the patients must have been thinking when we came into their rooms. First, I'd come in alone and get their histories in a whisper. I'd have to hold my own breath when I listened to their hearts so that I could actually hear anything. Then, my preceptor would come in with me, and the two of us would be examining the patient in between coughing fits. We were both way sicker than any of the patients we saw were. This just supports something I read once about how the worst place to be when you're sick is in the hospital. Why? Because that's where all the germs are.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
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6 comments:
don't you think it would be a better idea to sit flu out at home, and come back when healthy. it's disturbing that the culture of medicine insists on doctors being heroic.
Sure. It's always a judgment call with these things. Friday I was definitely too sick to go to school, and I stayed home. But I felt fine on Monday other than having the laryngitis, and I didn't have a fever any more by then. So I went in.
it's been so long since you posted, whats going on?
I know, things have been pretty busy. I've got some more entries that I'll put up soon. Thanks for reading. :-)
Thought you'd like this post: Residents expecting to work fewer hours: Committee may just recommend better naps. Wouldn't post off topic, I just can't find an e-mail for you.
Interesting--thanks for sharing, Chris. The funny thing is that I often hear the more senior docs talking about how the shortened work week is decreasing resident proficiency. (They just don't make residents like they used to, etc. etc.) These docs would probably all have heart attacks on the spot if the resident work week was shortened even more! I do like the nap idea though. :-)
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