Faux Pas

Ever had an epic faux pas? I have had many. I think it goes with being blonde. My latest one involved telling a new mother with HIV over and over again how to give her baby antiretrovirals. She kept telling me she was negative. Bless. Denial. Until...I realised I had the wrong folder. EISH!

Read about my funniest one here...

The Boyf has his own little faux pas yesterday at work.  He is also a doctor, working in Orthopaedics, but he does some casualty locum work too.This is the BBM I got...

THE BOYF: Just asked a Mom if her child was Down Syndrome.

LITTLE MISS MEDIC: And?

TB: She said "No."

LMM: Did the child look Down Syndrome?

TB: Yes!

source

Shame. It happens to the best of us. But there are a lot of people out there who do look DS and aren't!



LMM

xoxo

Most Scary

I am on call again today and had a quick break in the day to come home for lunch, a rare treat. I am hoping for a particularly quiet night as I am feeling quite run down and tired.

Medicine can at times be quite scary. Whether you are facing an aggressive patient who wants to turn you into mince meat or are doing a procedure that you haven't been trained to do, but are winging it, to try and save a life, things are definitely scary!

A few weeks ago, whilst I was on call, I was summoned to the ward at 3am. A patient had miscarried at 4 months and the fetus needs to be examined by a doctor. I went up to the ward and found a little package waiting for me in the sluice room. This is the part that I hate. A baby at this gestation, is fully formed, but looks like a little alien. I unwrapped the plastic and something moved in my hands. I shrieked loudly and one of the nurses came running to see what was the matter.

NURSE: Doctor are you OK?

LITTLE MISS MEDIC: Yes but the baby moved.

NURSE: Ha, ha Doctor. You are funny! It can't move, it is dead!

LMM: But I swear I felt it touch my arm.

After much convincing and hand holding the nurse finally examined the fetus with me. Its little limp arm had flopped over and that was what I had been so afraid of. It was a perfectly formed baby girl, with the cutest little fingers and toes. So sad. I weighed it and documented all my findings.

I wrapped it up again and took it with me to Labour Ward to deposit it in the chest freezer. This freezer looks like a normal freezer that you would keep extra meat in, perfectly harmless. I lifted the lid and pulled back a paper covering...



AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!



Lying underneath the covering where 4 little frozen babies. Just lying there. In a row.  Definitely the freakiest way to keep the fetuses. I mean c'mon. Wrap them up. In dark plastic. Or something. That is horror film material right there!

                                                                        source

A week later I was on call again and could not prevent myself from having another peek in the freezer...

There were only frozen placentas this time, not so exciting!

This is now my favourite trick to play on the medical students...hee hee.


Let's hope no mini corpses tonight!!!



LMM

xoxo

Giveaway

The lovely Lulu from Berry Diaries is having an awesome giveaway here! Go and have a look.

Good luck!


LMM
xoxo

Massage Bliss

People always ask, "How do you stay awake for 30 hours?". With great difficulty, is my answer. Luckily the labour ward is such a high turnover place that there is little time to sit down, let alone pee. I go to work on call days, prepared to go into combat. I have every food type imaginable and am even armed with extra underwear in cases of spillage. My Crocs, unfortunately are a vital part of my armour, much to the dismay of my friends and family. Everyone has call superstitions. I never take a toothbrush or magazines on call, because that implies that I would get to sleep or relax and if you have these items, Murphy's Law, it will be crazy.

Today I got home after a 26 hour call and felt like a bus had ridden over me, reversed and then done a wheel spin over my head. But, I didn't care, because I had the perfect post call treat lined up for myself.

A massage..... :)

The amazing Ingrid came to give me the most heavenly massage known to man. In the comfort of your own home, she comes prepared with a plinth, relaxing music and the hands of an angel. If I can give you one tip: try one of her massages, relaxation like I have never known. I have had a lot of dodgy massages and this rates as a firm number 1!

(Unfortunately only for those in the Cape Town area.)

Now for tea in bed :)

LMM

xoxo