Thursday, August 03, 2006

More Interactions with ENT

One of our patients who was recently trached started bleeding from her trach site. We thus called back ENT -- who placed the trach and wants responsibility for making any adjustments to it -- to investigate the bleeding, identify its source, and fix it. Eager to get involved with any procedure (I swear, surgery is my true calling) I offered to help them, and they gladly accepted.

So for more than an hour I worked with the two ENT residents at the bedside, as they cauterized the hell out of one fat goiter (large thyroid gland) that was causing all the bleeding. Assisting them was interesting, and at the end they asked if I would help clean up. I had no problem helping them clean up the large mess that they had created, which entailed bloody 4x4's, empty suture packages, and dirty surgical towels scattered on and around the patient's bed, as long as it was just that -- helping.

Once I agreed they promptly walked out of the room and left me to clean up the mess alone ... but not without first making me aware of a "sharp" (needle) they had lost somewhere on the bed!

Thanks asshole! First, didn't your momma teach you to clean your own fucking mess? Next, if you are going to make a medical student clean up your crap, at least ask your own medical student to clean up your crap -- not one from another service. And finally, you're an even bigger asshole for making me clean up your mess after you conveniently lost a sharp that I will probably "find" by accidentally sticking my finger into.

I've gotta say, after my last encounter, my track record with ENT is 0 and 2.

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