tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62240592011-08-01T16:13:10.875-07:00The Musings Of A Certified Registered nurse AnesthetistMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comBlogger3221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-35890484618566734602010-02-22T22:01:00.000-08:002010-02-22T22:02:18.652-08:00

Kidneys Everywhere!Had a busy time at work this last weekend. On Thursday we did a craniectomy on a 15 year old girl who had been in an automobile accident at 80 miles an hour. A craniectomy is where a patient has massive swelling in their brain. The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove a large portion of the skull and leave it off until the swelling subsides. The portion of skull

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-60370580546034505062010-02-08T21:47:00.000-08:002010-02-09T21:52:51.247-08:00

Tough NightI haven't blogged in a long time. There are lots of reasons why. I haven't had any students since mid November and probably won't have one until April. Our night time caseload has been lower the last few months with not many trauma cases. I do lots of different kinds of cases at night but my least favorite is an organ procurement. The patients for these cases are brain dead. They

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-47263478163909418552009-11-23T08:22:00.000-08:002009-11-23T08:23:44.574-08:00

Busy Night shift, or notI work at a level 1 trauma center. This means we do any kind of emergency surgery needed 24/7. I have now been on the night shift for over four and a half years and that is by choice. I prefer the night shift. I go to work each night having absolutely no idea what I will be doing that night. It can rang from nothing to a kidney transplant to a stab/gunshot wound to

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-52511639185306468402009-11-14T17:17:00.000-08:002009-11-14T17:18:07.143-08:00

Weekend So FarMy first two nights at work this weekend have been busy ones. Thursday night I did a case involving a 55 year old man. He had been relatively healthy until he started having lower back pain recently. On Thursday he had sudden onset of loss of sensation in his legs, leg weakness, and loss of control of his bladder. A CAT scan revealed a mass on his lower spine that was impinging

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-53895361590765836352009-10-25T16:13:00.000-07:002009-10-25T17:19:36.166-07:00

Back to WorkI haven't blogged again for a while. I was off for several weeks and then last weekend was much quieter than average. In four nights at work I only did two cases both of which were short and routine. This weekend as been much busier. On Friday night my student and I started things off by taking over a case involving a 45 year old man. He was a prisoner who had been stabbed

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-40752443782764811462009-09-06T03:28:00.000-07:002009-09-06T03:49:33.796-07:00

When Plastic Surgery Goes Very WrongI haven't blogged for awhile again I see. I could make excuses about not doing much in the way of interesting cases lately, which is true, but mostly I guess I am just a little bit lazy.Tonight however I did a very sad case of plastic surgery gone wrong. Five days ago at another hospital a 45 year old woman went in for what was supposed to be liposuction of

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-32505322066369813682009-08-11T02:27:00.000-07:002009-08-11T02:29:34.471-07:00

Sad Ending to a Slow WeekendFinished another four nights at work. The first three nights were mostly quiet. Thursday night I finished the last hour of an eight hour brain tumor resection case. I left the breathing tube in at the end of the case and took the patient to the ICU.My only case for Friday night involved a 45 year old man with a torsioned testicle. His right testicle was twisted

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-46009494766648253652009-07-27T23:53:00.000-07:002009-07-27T23:54:28.593-07:00

Fixed and DilatedThis last weekend was a fairly typical one. My student and I did several cases. We did one involving a 20 something year old boy with a gunshot to his right abdomen. He had damage to his small intestine, his liver and his diaphragm. The surgeons were able to repair the damage.We also did a case of a 55 year old lady with a small bowel obstruction and the case of a fifteen

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-57843238843598541652009-07-21T19:12:00.000-07:002009-07-21T19:13:48.954-07:00

Good Weekend for My StudentI had another student working with me this last weekend and he got to do several very good cases. On Saturday night a 59 year old man had suffered a minor stroke 2 days before. He had been doing well and seemed to be recovering. He had suddenly become unarousable and he breathing had become depressed. The neurosurgeons determined that the pressure in his brain had

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-72533838190876266222009-07-11T17:07:00.000-07:002009-07-11T19:16:59.161-07:00

No Such Thing as a Routine CaseThursday night at work I was asked to finish off a case that had already been going for about 7 hours. My student and I took over the case which was finished in about an hour. By the time we took over the case it was pretty much over and I would not normally blog about it. In this case the story is so sad, so scary that I felt I had to talk about it.On Thursday

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-24159298599799745892009-06-20T05:49:00.000-07:002009-06-20T16:28:12.298-07:00

Oh My God TraumaThis is my current students third of four weekends working with me. We have done several good traumas already including stab wounds and gunshot wounds. Trauma cases range in severity. Some are not any more difficult than a routine case. Others are somewhat more hectic and involve us giving a few units of blood products. Occasionally we get what I like to call an "Oh My God!"

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-43934194367094557662009-06-12T21:04:00.000-07:002009-06-12T21:06:59.417-07:00

New StudentI have a new student that I am working with. This is his second of 4 weekends that we will work together. Last weekend was extremely quiet. We only did 3 cases and none of them were trauma related. Last night my student got his "trauma cherry" busted. A 30 something year old women was brought up from the emergency room. She had a self inflicted gunshot wound to her left forearm.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-46278257219412722992009-05-26T11:12:00.000-07:002009-05-26T11:16:24.317-07:00

Back to WorkI took a little time off and I guess I didn't get around to posting anything. Thumper and I went into San Francisco a few days with our son. We had a great time playing tourist. Saw a few movies, including Star Trek on the giant IMAX screen, and otherwise just relaxed. This weekend however I was back to working the night shift and it was a very busy weekend.Thursday night I was

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-36646999732465350742009-05-01T17:50:00.001-07:002009-05-01T17:54:48.479-07:00

AAAMost people who see AAA think about the company that will help you with roadside assistance when your car breaks down. In the operating room AAA stands for Abdominal Aortic aneurysm. The aorta is the largest artery in the body. It leaves the heart and travels down next to the spine until is splits in two with half going to each leg. Many other arteries branch off of it to supply the entire

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-60531829384948497292009-04-27T23:37:00.000-07:002009-04-27T23:38:54.646-07:00

Back to WorkMy ankle is healing but it is still sore but I can walk on it. So I was back at work this weekend and I did several strange cases. Thursday night I did three routine cases on healthy people. Two of them had their appendices removed and the third young man had a torsion testicle. A torsion testicle means the testicle gets twisted in the scrotum. It is extremely painful and if not

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-49996511334234639612009-04-16T22:28:00.000-07:002009-04-16T22:31:33.670-07:00

Sometimes Things SuckThe master bedroom of our new house faces the afternoon sun and the room gets hot. We bought a really nice roll down shade for outside to block the sun from beating down on the window. I was putting it up today when things went badly. I had placed the ladder in a flower bed so I could drill holes to mount the hanging bracket. I was on the ladder's third step when it

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-36966179804309130292009-04-12T03:05:00.000-07:002009-04-12T08:21:11.752-07:00

Waiting for The Other Shoe to DropIt is three in the morning on my third of four nights in a row and so far it has been unnaturally quiet. In three nights I have only done one case on Friday night. It was a short 1 hour case involving a 36 year old man who had an abdominal hernia repaired about a month ago. Unfortunately the incision site had gotten badly infected. The surgeons had to reopen

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-42013829430670581382009-03-30T04:48:00.000-07:002009-03-30T05:13:35.071-07:00

Strangely Quiet WeekendIn a little more than an hour the day shift will get here and I will be on my way home. It has been a mostly quiet weekend. I didn't have a student again this weekend so I guess it is OK that it was quiet.On Friday night we did absolutely no cases at all. I spent the night reading, watching episodes of the SciFi show Babylon 5 on Dvd and BSing with the night shift crew.We

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-48582529853999830572009-03-19T23:04:00.000-07:002009-03-20T17:11:09.544-07:00

By My SelfThis will be the first of four nights at work. I do not have a student this week in fact my next student is not due to arrive until mid April. My last student did an excellent job. Over 4 weekends she did four kidney transplants, 2 liver transplants and an organ harvest. Trauma cases she was involved with included several stab wounds, a gun shot wound to the leg with major blood

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-21444136142262646592009-03-02T18:49:00.000-08:002009-03-02T18:50:37.367-08:00

2nd WeekendThis was my current student's 2nd weekend working with me and she got some more good cases. On Friday we started out with a 61 year old man who had been "T-boned" in his car. He already had a breathing tube in place by the time he came up to the operating room and his blood pressure was low. As we started giving him blood products the surgeons opened his abdomen. His abdomen was

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-9706457811140586922009-02-23T23:10:00.000-08:002009-02-23T23:11:34.058-08:00

The Rest of The WeekendFirst a followup on the man with the gunshot wound to his right leg. The news is not good. The next day the surgeons returned the man to the operating room and amputated his leg up near the groin. The leg had been without circulation to long and had died. Also it is looking like the man has suffered severe brain damage and will probably never regain consciousness. He

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-9255604951542455932009-02-21T19:21:00.000-08:002009-02-21T19:28:01.644-08:00

Good StartThis will be the first of 4 weekends at work with my current student. Thursday was a mostly quiet night. We did one case involving a 30 something year old women with a large abscess on her thigh. She had injured her leg on a car and gotten a large hematoma on her thigh. A hematoma is a pool of blood under the skin. On the surface it will appear as a large bruise. Usually the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-75190986980545969962009-02-16T19:31:00.000-08:002009-02-16T19:35:37.612-08:00

1st Rotation DoneMy first student of this year finished his 4 weeks last night. Overall he had a good number of cases. He did 3 kidney transplants, a shotgun wound to the leg, about 6 stab wounds to the abdomen or chest, several brain surgeries and several big abdominal cases. Mixed in with the bigger cases was a number of simpler cases including several appendectomies, an abcess on a heroin

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-91942673183784261442009-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:002009-02-02T22:59:48.256-08:00

New StudentThe last two weeks I have been working with the first of my next series of students. He is an Army Major stationed at Tripler Army base in Hawaii. He will be here for a month working the night shift. The goal is to get him experience doing trauma cases. So far his first two weeks have been very productive. We have done two cases of patients with small bowel obstructions, a pizza

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-16161163809010596662009-01-21T15:32:00.000-08:002009-01-21T15:47:11.380-08:00

Sum It Up.We got the keys to the new house ten days ago. Today we brought over the last of our stuff from the old house. We have a lot of unpacking and settling in to do yet.I think I can best sum things up like this. Moving Sucks!!!

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-77422275758680875952009-01-09T19:58:00.001-08:002009-01-09T19:58:55.104-08:00

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-80160125574611746802009-01-04T03:57:00.000-08:002009-01-04T05:01:58.054-08:00

SepsisIt is 4:00 in the morning on the second of three nights at work. Tonight as been very quiet so far. I have watched "The Desert Fox" and "The Flying Tigers" on my little DVD player tonight. Two pretty good WWII movies that I got from Netflix.Friday night was a very different story. I spent most of the night in the operating room taking care of two very sick patients. The first was a 56 year

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-17309004551750327322008-12-29T03:35:00.000-08:002008-12-29T04:07:07.454-08:00

Weekend SummaryIt is 03:30 in the morning on my fourth night in a row at work. Overall it has not been a bad 4 nights. Thursday night (Christmas Day Night) was quiet except for a 23 year old lady who needed her appendix removed.Friday night was the busy night of the four. We put a pin in to fix a 26 year old mans broken leg. A 28 year old women had a fallopian tube removed because of an ectopic

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-28655599386680306082008-12-24T19:54:00.000-08:002008-12-24T19:55:42.008-08:00

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-14465155470357551802008-12-13T05:34:00.000-08:002008-12-13T06:02:19.980-08:00

It was Just an Appendectomy, Not!Thursday night was the first of 4 nights in a row. I started out by taking over a case that was started by the evening shift nurse anesthetist. The patient was 38 years old and he was having his appendix remove laprascopically. I was told he had been having pain since the day before Thanksgiving but it had gotten significantly worse today. He had no medical

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-67096081376110744452008-12-08T17:18:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:22:20.591-08:00

Light WeekendThis weekend turned out to be a light one at work. Friday night there were no cases at all. I spent the night reading, BSing with the rest of the operating room staff and watching the classic Scifi movie "When The Earth Stood Still".Saturday night I did only one case that lasted about 4 hours. A 37 year old man had been run over by a train. He had been stabilized at another

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-46899058608362425002008-12-03T20:34:00.000-08:002008-12-06T05:14:54.262-08:00

Drunken BabyAs I have mentioned before I work an occasional day shift at another hospital. I like these day shifts because I get to do types of cases and anesthetics that I don't get to do on the night shift. Today I was doing anesthesia for ENT cases. The first case involved placing ear tubes in a 10 month old boy. I spent about 15 minutes holding the little guy prior to taking him to the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-58931493960735655662008-11-24T20:25:00.000-08:002008-11-24T20:28:45.834-08:00

Busy WeekendOverall I had a pretty busy weekend at work this week. Friday wasn't to bad with only the appendectomy on a 12 year old boy that went well with out any problems.Both Saturday and Sunday nights found me in the operating room pretty much all night long. On Saturday I began the night by taking over a kidney transplant case on a 60 year old man. That case finished about 2:00 in the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-7461301738206796212008-11-15T05:45:00.000-08:002008-11-15T06:01:16.616-08:00

My Weekend So FarI sit here near the end of my second of four nights at work and so far it has been a mostly pleasant weekend. Thursday night I did two cases. The first was a simple laprascopic appendectomy on a healthy 40something year old man. The only complication was the fact that the patient is a coworker of mine. There is a superstition in anesthesia circles that says that if you are

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-76591363864647121952008-11-08T17:26:00.000-08:002008-11-08T17:27:01.685-08:00

Trauma NightLast night was my first of three nights at work. I have my last student of this year working with me and it turned out to be a great night of trauma experience for him. The first case of the night involved a 30 something year old man with a bad stab wound to the side of his neck. The wound ran from just below his ear to his collar bone and it was bleeding profusely. The surgeons

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-1741312987239699562008-10-20T05:13:00.000-07:002008-10-20T05:36:18.439-07:00

Long 4 NightsIt is near the end of my fourth night at work and it has been a busy weekend. Thursday night I spent most of the night in a case involving a 4 year old boy with an abcess in his neck. The cause of the abcess was uncleaar but it was very deep in his neck under his jawline. Because there are many nerves, arteries and veins in the area where they were working it took the surgeons 5

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-88656725244309847832008-10-12T05:50:00.000-07:002008-10-12T08:22:47.732-07:00

16It is near the end of my second of three nights at work. Tonight has been mostly quiet. I finished the case of a 20 something year old prisoner with a fractured jaw. I was told that he had been weightlifting and lost control of the bar and it had fallen on his face. I don't know if that was true or not but his jaw was broken in several places.Friday night was busier. Most of the time we

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-11920885527226999442008-10-06T17:21:00.000-07:002008-10-06T17:22:34.822-07:00

My weekend at WorkLast night was my fourth night in a row at work. Thursday and Friday nights I had a student with me. We did several cases Including a 40 year old woman with damage to her right eye. Saturday night was quiet with no cases at all.Last night I was very busy. My first case involved a 16 year old boy who was involved in a hunting accident. He had been accidently shot in the hip

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-63296532394417536412008-09-28T18:43:00.001-07:002008-09-28T18:43:43.408-07:00

Shotguns and Drunk DriversThis is the last weekend my current student will spend working with me. It has been a good rotation for him with a number of trauma cases. This weekend so far he has seen the extremes of the night shift. Friday night was quiet. We did not do a single case. I spent the night watching DVD's and he spent it studying for the certification exam he will be taking for

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-57035048462868157422008-09-22T03:19:00.000-07:002008-09-22T04:14:33.500-07:00

I Wish a Student Had Been There.Saturday night at work turned out to be very eventful. It would have been a great night to have had a student working with me. About midnight we got word of an 18 year old with multiple stab wounds that was being brought to the operating room. The surgeons planned to place chest tubes on both sides and then to look inside his abdomen using a laprascope. They do

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-66971248220055594312008-09-20T05:16:00.000-07:002008-09-20T05:48:17.638-07:00

As PromisedI promised mom in my last post that I would write about any interesting cases that I do this weekend. Thursday night turned out to be a very busy night.First a little background information. Last Sunday (13 Sep) My student and I did a case involving a 45 year old woman who was kayaking on a river after dark. She and her kayak were struck by a fast moving motorboat and she was severely

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-57277134157521432112008-09-18T23:01:00.000-07:002008-09-18T23:09:07.227-07:00

Because Mom Told Me To.Yesterday Thumper and I went up for a visit with my mom. We had a great lunch at Olive Garden and then spent some time at her house. She was having a small problem with her computer that Thumper was able to help her with. Then she asked me why I had not updated my blog in about 3 weeks. I had no excuse other than blog laziness. Their have actually been a few good cases

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-33466760655105931932008-08-25T20:12:00.000-07:002008-08-25T20:13:01.436-07:00

The Rest of the WeekendFirst an update. The 13 year old with the stab wound to the heart from my previous post will survive. Unfortunately it appears that he has suffered rather significant brain damage. It probably occured at the first hospital when they coded him and performed CPR on him.Saturday night at work turned out to be as busy as Friday night was. We started the night with a bad

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-8341535723233462042008-08-23T17:27:00.000-07:002008-08-23T17:29:01.925-07:00

Straight to The HeartLast night was my second of four nights at work. I have another student who is working with me this weekend and last night turned out to be a great night for her. We started out with a 13 year old who was helicoptered to our hospital from another. He had multiple stab wounds to the chest. We never did hear the how or why he had been stabbed. He already had a breathing

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-28031068471326358202008-08-17T22:58:00.000-07:002008-08-17T23:01:49.110-07:00

An UpdateI am at work on my third of three nights and it has been quiet so far. I did get the chance to check up on the 11 year old from my last post. The breathing tube has been taken out and he is talking and moving appropriately so it appears for now that he will make a full recovery! Hopefully his parents will learn from this close call and keep him safer in the future.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-75745756905211811582008-08-16T03:44:00.000-07:002008-08-16T04:11:10.503-07:00

Stupid Parents Piss Me OffIt is almost 4 in the morning of my first of 3 nights at work and so far I have only done one case. It involved an 11 year old boy. He was brought to the operating room with a head injury. He had an epideral hematoma which means he was bleeding just under the skull. This is not the brain itself bleeding but bleeding in the space between the bone of the skull and the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-4142382648980210332008-08-03T22:37:00.000-07:002008-08-03T22:55:30.141-07:00

Something Good from Something BadIf you read my post from 20 July I wrote about how I hate doing organ harvest cases. This case involved a 20 year old woman who had a gunshot wound to the head. In my mailbox at work tonight I found a letter. It was written by the coordinator for the Organ Donor Services. This is the group who oversees organ donation in my area. They arrange for the organ

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-15736571119669737682008-07-25T16:31:00.000-07:002008-07-25T16:32:28.672-07:00

Why We Wear SeatbeltsLast night was the first of 4 nights at work. I started the night finishing a case involving a 24 year old man who had wrecked a motorscooter and broken his left leg. The case was almost finished by the time I took over and woke the patient up.My second and last case of the night involved an 11 year old boy who had been in a automobile accident. He had not been wearing a

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-12382923315066613472008-07-20T18:34:00.000-07:002008-07-20T18:35:13.252-07:00

Sad CaseI did two cases at work last night. The first involved a 50 year old man who had a hernia repair surgery a week ago. Unfortunately the incision site had become infected. The surgeons reopened the site and cleaned it out.I do all kinds of cases during the night. Everything from appendectomies and gall bladders to gunshot wounds and motor vehicle accidents. Probably my least favorite

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-76110249174079186552008-07-12T04:58:00.000-07:002008-07-12T05:21:41.443-07:00

Another Early Morning PostIt is about 5:00 in the morning and I am almost done with my second of four nights in a row at work. Thursday night was very busy with three cases keeping me in the operating room for most of the night. The first involved a 32 year old woman who had a history of ovarian cancer. Her ovary had been removed years before and she so far had not had any further signs of

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-41188514091620024882008-06-29T05:15:00.000-07:002008-06-29T05:47:24.342-07:00

Early Sunday MorningIt is a little after 5 in the morning and I am finishing up my third of four nights at work. It has been a pretty average weekend so far. Thursday night was quiet with no cases.Friday night I had a student working with me and we were busy most of the night. We started out by finishing a case started by the evening shift. It involved a 50 something year old man who had lost

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-33492610217111237152008-06-15T21:50:00.000-07:002008-06-15T22:19:35.588-07:00

The Weekend So FarIt is Sunday night and I am starting my 4th night at work. Thursday and Friday nights were mostly quiet. My student and I started an organ harvest at the end of our first shift. The patient was a 64 year old man who had suffered a brain hemorrhage that had caused brain death. The surgeons were planning on taking his liver and both kidneys for transplants. Friday night was

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-9619507407860293302008-06-02T23:33:00.001-07:002008-06-02T23:33:53.459-07:00

Pain in the Neck!!Thumper and I went for one of our longest motorcycle rides today. We went over 110 miles total. We wear full gear when we ride including kevlar laced pants, boots, gloves, motorcycle jackets with armor pads and full face helmuts. The only place on my entire body that is not covered is the little bit of my neck below my helmet and above the collar of my jacket. So why is it

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-50947910203762894132008-05-28T20:31:00.000-07:002008-05-28T20:32:27.831-07:00

This One is for You MomThumper and I went up to visit my mom today. She needed to get her truck Smog checked and wanted me to go with her. After the Smog check we all went to lunch. Later on the way home Thumper and I stopped at a motorcycle gear shop to look around. While at my mom's she mentioned that I had not updated my blog lately. This blog entry is for you mom.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-41216128823665916182008-05-22T23:23:00.000-07:002008-05-22T23:24:36.517-07:00

J.S. Bach must Hate me!I have mentioned before that I am trying (with lots of emphasis on "trying") to learn to play the violin. Every Monday afternoon I head over to the music store and go into a small room with my instructor. She is a 50 something year old lady of Russian ancestry who must have the patience of Job. I have very limited prior experience with music having taken a semester of

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-27411247470990943242008-05-13T01:27:00.001-07:002008-05-13T01:28:51.757-07:00

Feast or FamineI tell my students that the night shift is a "feast or famine" situation. Some nights I don't do any cases at all and other nights I am lucky if I get a chance to eat something. My student is here to learn how to do trauma. Last weekend his very first trauma was on Saturday night. As I described below it was a good case with a stab wound to the heart. After that we did nothing

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-50048393877798847372008-05-04T17:17:00.000-07:002008-05-04T17:18:24.119-07:00

Another Cherry BrokenI had another Army nurse anesthetist student start working with me this weekend. He will be here for a month to learn how to do trauma cases. Thursdsay and Friday nights were mostly quiet with us finishing one case. Last night we did a case involving a 20 something year old man with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and left chest. The surgeons opened his abdomen and

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-25479881362327242072008-04-28T23:41:00.000-07:002008-04-28T23:42:12.581-07:00

Busy WeekendWe can always tell when the weather starts improving on the nightshift. The number of traumas go up. This last weekend turned out be a busy one. On Saturday night a 20 something year old man was brought up with multiple stab wounds in the back. He already had a breathing tube in place. His heartrate was around 140 and his blood pressure was low which is a sure sign that he had

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-10813450463317253522008-04-17T23:43:00.000-07:002008-04-17T23:44:32.581-07:00

MMMMMMMMMMM Beer!!!!I don't remember if I have mentioned before that I like to make homebrew beer. It is not terribly difficult to make once you invest in the necessary equipment. It starts with a 4 gallon pot in which malt, grain, sugar and other ingrediants are boiled for about an hour or so. The boiled mixture is cooled, placed in a 5 gallon plastic bucket into which yeast is then added

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-69355389894975779232008-04-13T03:26:00.000-07:002008-04-13T03:30:05.647-07:00

The Weekend So FarIt is just after 3 in the morning as I write this. I am listening to some music here at work as I write this. I have the country group Whiskey Falls on first but am going to follow that with a cd by Vanessa Mae. She is a 20something year old who does amazing things with a violin.This is my second of three nights at work. Friday night was quiet with only 1 short case. A 52

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-78850762907105001272008-03-29T05:25:00.000-07:002008-03-29T05:56:04.770-07:00

Back to WorkI haven't blogged in a couple of weeks because I took a mini vacation and was off for 10 days. Thumper and I didn't have any specific plans and didn't "go away" on a trip. Sometimes that is the best kind of time off. We saw a few movies, spent a day at a big farmer's market/flea market and took a few bike rides. It was very relaxing.Now it is 05:30 in the morning of my first night

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-70689069958731573172008-03-15T16:56:00.000-07:002008-03-16T18:56:23.826-07:00

Very Busy NightFirst an update. The 22 year old with the gunshot wound to his aorta is still alive and slowly recovering. It is now a week since he was shot and he is still in the ICU and still has a breathing tube in. He has been back to the operating room several times and will be back several more times before they can finally completely close his abdomen.Now to last night. When my student

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-34970479840974919532008-03-08T19:10:00.000-08:002008-03-08T19:11:07.933-08:00

Walked into a TraumaLast night I walked into work to find out they had just taken a man with a gunshot wound to the operating room. I quickly changed into scrubs and went to the operating room. My student, eager to do any trauma case that rolls through the door, was already in the room. It turns out that we needed all the help we could get. The patient was 22 years old and had multiple

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-71890455625862074642008-03-03T18:42:00.000-08:002008-03-03T18:43:00.052-08:00

Busy NightLast night was the last of three nights at work and it was a busy one. My student and I started the night with an appendectomy. Usually a routine case this one was complicated by the fact that the 31 year old women was diagnosed with tuberculosis 2 weeks ago. This meant that all of us in the operating room had to wear special protective masks. These masks cover your mouth and nose,

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-38054405878338464672008-03-01T09:05:00.000-08:002008-03-01T09:06:29.029-08:00

Good First NightLast night was my first night with another Army student. As his predecessor he will be working with me for four weeks. Last night started out very quietly and stayed that way until about 4:45 in the morning when we got the word that they were bringing up a man with a stab wound to the heart. He was 45 years old and was awake and remarkably calm for a man with a stab wound in

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-58518607102212934882008-02-17T17:17:00.000-08:002008-02-17T17:18:34.832-08:00

A case That Made me Say OMGMy student and I did two cases last night. The first was a routine appendectomy on a 42 year old man. The surgeons did the case laprascopically so the patient should go home within a day.I have done many memorable cases over the years. A delivery at 25 weeks on a 17 ounce baby or a man with an 8 inch knife in his back come to mind. Last nights second case will also

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-29648438394841710272008-02-10T17:19:00.000-08:002008-02-10T17:20:07.471-08:00

Hole in his HeartLast night my student and I did what for him was a great trauma case. A 45 year old man was brought to our hospital by helicopter with multiple stab stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. One of the wounds was to his left chest. In the operating room the surgeons made an incision from the base of his throat straight down to below his navel. They split his sternum with a saw

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-50215075502745828392008-02-09T16:32:00.000-08:002008-02-10T08:41:09.224-08:00

My Weekend So FarI described the gunshot wound case my student and I did last weekend on Friday night. Saturday and Sunday nights were both extremely quiet with no cases. That was good for me but my student would have preferred being busy. This weekend has been a little busier.Thursday night we did a sad case. A 45 year old women was "found down" by her family. This means she was found lying

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-66093162972503765512008-02-02T16:26:00.000-08:002008-02-02T16:30:05.718-08:00

Trauma CherryI had a student working with me last night. He is the first of two Army students currently training in Hawaii that will come work with me for a month each. He had already worked two nights with the other night shift nurse anesthetist but they had been quiet nights. He still has almost a year of training to go. He has performed about 250 anesthetics so far as part of his training

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-1714160858707190702008-01-28T08:24:00.000-08:002008-01-28T08:25:43.359-08:00

Can't Save Them AllLast night was a busy night. It was also a frustrating, sad night. The First case involved a 17 year old boy. We were told he had been hit by one car and then "run over" by a second car. A breathing tube was already in place and he had already recieved 4 units of blood in the emergency room before they rushed him to the operating room.He was bleeding from his nose which

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-8716735314767340232008-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:002008-01-25T08:13:51.301-08:00

Sometimes I am very Thankful Last night was the first of four nights and it turned out to be very quiet. I did not do any cases myself. There was only one case going when I got to work. I am extremely grateful that I did not have to do that case. They were doing an organ harvest on a 6 month old baby. It seems that the baby's mother had been driving while on drugs. The child was not

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-49101429468176667732008-01-06T17:10:00.000-08:002008-01-06T17:14:53.073-08:00

Bad Weekend for PedestriansIn my last entry I talked about the poor woman who had been hit by a car that we could not save. Last night I had two more cases involving people who had been hit by cars. The first was a 54 year old woman who was hit while she was jogging. Her pelvis was broken as well as the two bones in her lower left leg. Fortunately there were no other internal injuries and she

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-39829328669900975322008-01-05T17:12:00.000-08:002008-01-05T17:13:23.102-08:00

We Can't Save EveryoneLast night was the first of three at work. When I arrived there was already a trauma in progress. A young man had been stabbed in the abdomen. The case was going well and would soon be finished by the evening shift nurse anesthetist. We keep two trauma rooms ready at all times and last night we needed both of them. Shortly after I arrived we got word that another trauma

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-36169741994850848322007-12-29T18:17:00.000-08:002007-12-29T18:18:41.832-08:00

Multiple gunshot woundsLast night was the second of four nights at work. Thursday night was a quiet one with no cases. Last night was busier. The first case involved a 40 year old women with an abcess on her thigh. A simple case that took about 30 minutes. Next we set up to do a kidney transplant. About 30 minutes before we were to start the case the surgeons called and cancelled it. In

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-24113163106766589862007-12-25T11:55:00.000-08:002007-12-25T11:56:59.273-08:00

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-19006471192155699572007-12-15T17:32:00.001-08:002007-12-15T17:32:48.061-08:00

My Weekend So FarI have worked two of four nights so far and they have not been bad. Thursday night I did one case. A 9 year old boy had his appendix removed laproscopically. An easy case on an otherwise healthy young man.Last night started out nicely. There were no cases going in fact the last case of the day was finished by 9:00. It remained quiet until about 3:00 in the morning. A 20

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-64371899265411267272007-12-10T10:24:00.000-08:002007-12-11T01:26:25.594-08:00

I Should Have Known BetterWe are slightly superstitious in the operating room, especially on the night shift. We have a large dry erase board out front where cases that are currently going and those yet to be started are written on. As cases are completed they are erased from the board, except for the last one. On a quiet night if the last case is finished and there are no more to go the last

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-34714149158735255862007-12-09T19:04:00.000-08:002007-12-09T19:06:01.118-08:00

Mostly Quiet Weekend.... So FarTonight I will work the third of three nights in a row. Friday night was quiet with no cases at all. Last night I did a case involving a 37 year old carpenter who fell off the roof of the house he was working on 4 days before. He had already had surgery on his broken leg. He also had a fractured vertebrae in his back. His fracture was stable and was not

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-11941679609707514182007-12-05T22:17:00.000-08:002007-12-05T22:19:20.423-08:00

Ortho DayI have mentioned before that I work a couple of day shifts each month at a different hospital. It is smaller than where I normally work, 8 operating rooms compared to 24. I do it so that I can do a few "normal" cases. By normal I mean non trauma, elective cases on reasonably healthy patients.Today I did three orthopaedic cases. The first involved a 67 year old man who was getting a

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-25681643613065965382007-11-24T16:25:00.000-08:002007-11-24T16:27:04.116-08:00

Rode Hard and Put Away WetThat is another of my grandfather's sayings. It refers to a horse being worked hard, kind of like I was last night. I did three cases last night that kept me in the Operating room pretty much the whole night. The first involved a 19 year old women with an ectopic pregnancy. In a normal pregnancy an egg is released from the women's ovary. It travels through the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-10221393258781228682007-11-20T00:35:00.000-08:002007-11-20T00:36:04.678-08:00

You can't Choose your FamilyMy grandfather had many sayings about different things in life. One that I remember was that, "you can choose your friends but not your family." Last night at work was a good example of that saying. I did two cases during the night. the first involved a 38 year old woman with multiple gunshot wounds. she had two chest wounds, one in the abdomen, her right earlobe

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-52891574359002102312007-11-16T17:19:00.000-08:002007-11-16T17:20:17.245-08:00

Long NightLast night was the first of four. It started out with a 23 year old man with a stab wound to the abdomen. In some cases with a stab wound there is a hole created by the knife but not much visible damage on the outside. In this case the stab wound had slashed open his abdomen and a loop of small intestine was hanging out. After I put the man to sleep the surgeons opened his abdomen

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-39563088935342260442007-10-30T21:22:00.001-07:002007-10-30T21:22:33.877-07:00

Trauma WeekendThis weekend was the last one with a student for awhile. His class graduates in a few weeks and he was working with me to get experience doing trauma cases. As I told my student the night shift is "feast or famine" for getting cases. Some weekends are busy and others are not. This turned out to be a busy weekend for trauma. Over the weekend we did five trauma cases. They

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-42739656898952148912007-10-21T17:09:00.000-07:002007-10-21T17:10:13.404-07:00

Last StudentThis weekend and next I will have an Air Force Anesthesia student working with me. He is the last one for this year as his class all graduate in November. He has over 800 cases under his belt and has done all kinds of cases. He has not done very many trauma cases which is why he is spending time with me.Last night we did two cases. The first involved a 20 something year old man

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-71670942245091885072007-10-06T17:38:00.000-07:002007-10-06T17:39:14.696-07:00

Routine Weekend ... So FarLast night was my second of four nights at work. So far it has been a fairly routine weekend. I did two cases on Thursday night. The first involved a 56 year old man with a small bowel obstruction. The man was from the Philippines and did not speak English but fortunately his daughter was there to translate. His case only took about an hour with no problems. The

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-70302929169744263732007-09-23T00:07:00.000-07:002007-09-23T00:08:37.022-07:00

I Know it has been Forever...I know I am a bad blogger. I know it has been over a month since I blogged last. Thumper and I have moved since I blogged last as she and Buddah and Max have talked about. Things have been pretty quiet at work the last few weeks as well. Its a bad excuse but there it is. The move is pretty complete. There are still some boxes and stuff in the garage but we are

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-59510380842164667082007-08-12T18:41:00.000-07:002007-08-12T18:42:19.682-07:00

Busy NightLast night at work was a busy one. The first case of the night involved a 46 year old women who was in a car wreck. Unfortunately she was not wearing a seat belt. Her pelvis was badly broken. Worse her diaphragm was ruptured on the right side. Normally the diaphragm divides the abdominal cavity from the chest cavity. With it ruptured her intestines could go up into her chest and

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-48676384060535831952007-08-10T07:59:00.000-07:002007-08-10T17:01:34.668-07:00

The Unlucky and The Dumb assI did two cases at work last night. The first involved an 18 year old boy who had been a passenger in a car accident. Fortunately he was wearing his seat belt. Unfortunately it was a high speed accident and though the seat belt probably saved his life it also caused his injury. He was bruised across his abdomen where the lap belt had been. His body must have been

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-19927084432287435162007-08-04T19:06:00.000-07:002007-08-04T19:07:02.458-07:00

Typical Friday NightLast night was my first of three nights at work. I started the night taking over a case involving a man who thought methamphetamine and power tools was a good mix. Some how he managed to pierce his right eye with a power drill. The surgeons were able to save the eye. He will need a new lens put in at a later date but should get most of his vision back.About three in the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-20231732490697774052007-07-29T18:19:00.000-07:002007-07-29T18:20:06.069-07:00

I Hate to Say I Told You so.....In my last entry I mentioned that my 3rd Army Student had gone back home to Hawaii. I am sure that he was a little disappointed because though he got some good cases he did not get as many traumas as the other two students got to do. I told him as we said goodbye Saturday morning that I would probably get a good trauma when I came in Saturday night. Turns out

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-43239676622177574862007-07-28T08:10:00.000-07:002007-07-28T08:12:13.738-07:00

Go Army!Last night was the final night of the 3rd Army anesthesia student that has been working with me. Each one was here for a month of night shifts to get experience doing trauma cases. This latest student did a variety of cases including 5 kidney transplants, a couple of gunshot wounds, several car accident victims and others. He also did the 13 year old boy with mucor mycosis that I

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-14295052573563908542007-07-15T19:17:00.000-07:002007-07-15T19:18:03.199-07:00

Sad CaseMy student and I have had a couple of busy nights. On Friday night we did a case on a 46 year old man. He had a severe infection in his large intestine. His case was complicated by the facts that he has diabetes, renal failure and is about 150 pounds overweight. His temperature was 104 degrees at the start of the case. The surgeons had to remove a large portion of his large intestine

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-50638204619610765832007-07-13T18:50:00.000-07:002007-07-13T18:51:03.292-07:00

Trauma at LastMy current student was a little disappointed last weekend when he didn't get to do a single trauma case. He was not disappointed last night. About 0100 in the morning a 46 year old man was brought up from the ER. He had been crossing the street in his wheel chair when he was hit by a car. He had facial injuries and a severely broken right leg. The surgeons performed an

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-68000496927158091222007-07-10T07:19:00.000-07:002007-07-10T07:20:01.820-07:00

Trauma Free WeekendThe third student sent by the Army to get trauma experience was with me this weekend. I am sure he was disappointed by the lack of trauma. We got word of a few possible cases from the ER but they never came to the Operating room. Just because we did not do any trauma doesn't mean we were not doing cases.On Friday night we took out the appendix of a 28 year old man. Saturday

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-52558050502622838972007-06-26T20:58:00.000-07:002007-06-26T20:59:14.033-07:00

Blue Light Special for AbscessesMy student and I had a long night last night. We ended up doing 4 cases all involving people with an abscess that needed to be drained. Three of the cases were on heroin users. A 45 year old man with one on his hip, a 52 year old women with one on her shoulder and a 55 year old also with one on her hip. These are usually short cases. The surgeon makes a deep

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-75031503337166485672007-06-22T19:12:00.000-07:002007-06-22T19:13:09.848-07:00

Blue Light Special on Appy'sMy student and I just finished two night shifts. I think we must have been running a blue light special on appendectomies. We did a total of four of them over two nights. the youngest patient was a 16 year old boy and the oldest was a 70 year old women. I know the day shift did at least one on an 8 year old child as well.In addition to the appy's we also took out

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-54689497456902703792007-06-16T18:53:00.000-07:002007-06-16T18:54:21.797-07:00

Bullets and FishhooksLast night was my second of four nights. It turned out to be an average night with my student and I doing two cases. The first case came up from the ER a little after midnight. It involved a 16 year old kid with a gunshot wound. The bullet hit him in the small of his back and ended up just under the skin of his right shoulder. Fortunately the only real damage was to his

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-81550610886191912912007-06-15T20:44:00.000-07:002007-06-15T20:45:07.461-07:00

Impressive CaseEvery once in a while I do a case that when I look back at it I just want to say "Wow that was Impressive".Last night my student and I did a case like that. It involved a 48 year old man who was brought up from the ER. He was lying on his side because he couldn't lay on his back. The reason he couldn't lay on his back was the knife that was buried up to its hilt just below his

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-75875543258727765632007-06-07T13:37:00.001-07:002007-06-07T17:14:23.955-07:00

Nice Normal CasesMost of the time I work the night shift at a trauma center. Many of my patients already have a breathing tube in place when they arrive. If they don't we are rushing to the operating room and I have about a minute to ask a few key questions before I put them to sleep. I work one or two day shifts a month at another hospital just so I can do a few "normal" cases. I did five

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6224059.post-37371890161986496762007-06-04T08:48:00.000-07:002007-06-05T09:12:47.326-07:00

Sometimes it's quiet and sometimes it's not!!!Home now from my third night shift and it wasn't a good one. First let me tell you about Saturday night. It was relatively quiet with me only doing one 2 hour case involving an 18 year old boy with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. The bullet hit both his liver and his right kidney. The surgeons removed the kidney and stopped the bleeding in the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05817648676974678523noreply@blogger.com