I Will Not Last Past 50 In This Job.
 

I have a few hours left on tonights shift. So far its been a non stop running between a never ending line of patients for the last 13 hours. Have not had anything to eat since yesterday. Dead tired, zombie-like state. Hundreds of decisions, big and small. Tired bordering on panic.

Small excerpt of tonight:

6 year old girl. Fever, tired, pale and a blood value about a third of what it should be. What the heck?!? Leukemia? Aplastic anemia?
15 year old with sudden paralyze of left side of face. Stroke??
Newborn that does not breath, not heart beats, pale..
Another newborn with a heart rhythm completely irregular.
At least 10 children a few weeks old with breathing difficulties.
Another ten children with gastroenteritis.
Diabetic three year old with blood sugar completely off the charts.
And so on..

Sorry for spilling my sorrows on you guys. I feel better already. Thanks.

Steak, Beer, Bed.
Call me in the morning ;)

You'll be fine, just a tough day at the office.

Time to retire.........I did it when the decisions got too heavy regarding on who would live and who would not!!!!!

Steak, Beer, Bed, BJob.


I thought you Europeans didnt believe in working those long hours livi?

I know how you feel, Markus. I had a very exhausting aand tense trial today. It appears I have seen justice served for my client. Admittedly, nothing as heroic as helping sick children.

But I know what I have to do...and by trying to take down a crooked cop for perjury, I (and possibly my family) may be subjected to revenge. Perhaps deadly.

eat the baby !
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...tInMyBelly.jpg

livi,

You need to see a doctor :)

Cheer up man! Think what these children would do if you were not there to help.

Markus, you're a hero to everyone on Pelican Parts. Do what you can, take care of yourself, and keep up the good work.

Crooked Guv.
 

Haven't been to Chicago I take it.

+1...take care of yourself a bit Livi.:)

geriatrics

Wow, makes me feel much less stressed about the digestive issues with our 2 year old.

Nothing a little fluffing won't take care of! :)

You care, That's the problem! I don't know how you guys do it, you will be rewarded well!

go scream..really..go outside and tell the world how your doing..
now ..should someone approach you with a white jackett...run Fluffy...

better yet..blow something up...

Rika

Hang in there Marcus, you are doing the children so much good, and the parents too for that matter.

If you didn't do it, what incompetent person would take over your patients?:DSmileWavy

Do you have lime disease over there?? palsy, we had this happen to a friends 11 year old and was caused by a tick.

Sadly, a good nights rest won't fix this.

The enormity of your responsibilities are like a ten ton weight on your soul. Even if you can punctuate your professional life with beer and sleep, ultimately it wears you down. You are vulnerable because you care. You'll second guess every decision you made that didn't result in a good outcome. It grinds you down. The emotional burden is so hard to deal with. The best doctors suffer the most. At some point you may need to quit acute care simply to save yourself. When that happens, your patients will have suffered a great loss indeed.

Marcus,

No one said that doing the right thing would be easy, and you are a good and courageous man for doing what you do. You know that if ever in your exhausted state you need a nod to your efforts you can send anyone here a note. YOU have my admiration and respect. Now get some rest and we are still waiting for the DHL package with the blondes (oh darn that lets me out) Got any hot Redheads?

Thanks so much, guys! I really appreciate it.

Tim, the peculiar and ominous detail about this palsy was that it only engaged the lower part of the face, which is called a central palsy. This indicates a stroke of some kind usually. The peripheral kind with the whole side of the face engaged is common in kids with for example Borrelia (Lyme) or Herpes infection.

Turned out that the six year old had a benign form of anemia. When I started to give her a slow blood transfusion she went from a pale/white 'deadish' and very sad looking little girl, to a smiling wonderfully cute girl with a slight tone of red on her cheeks. I guess seeing her and her parents at that moment is what its all about.

Again. Thanks for your kind words.