Sick

It's that time of year again. Time for flu, colds, etc.

I was in charge of making sure rooms in our building were assigned to residents and faculty the other day. This includes assigning where add on cases go and making sure people get breaks and lunches and relieved at the end of the day.

One of the residents came up to me and told me he might need extra breaks because he's been having some "GI (gastrointestinal) problems" and been running to the bathroom. He said he was probably going to the emergency room after work because it had been going on for five days or so.

Yikes! A few minutes later his faculty came up to me and said his resident looked terrible and diaphoretic (sweaty) and should be sent home. I agreed and called over to the main building to see if there was someone extra to send over.

I went to his OR and told him we were sending someone over to relieve him. He protested and wanted to stay. "This is an interesting case, and I need my vascular cases"

I said, "If you need to go to the ER after work, you need to go to the ER now. You can't get your vascular cases if you fall over. You can always come back if you're okay"

He finally agreed and he was sent home. I think he didn't need to be admitted to the hospital, but earned himself a CT scan and lots of blood tests.

A couple days later, a (different) resident popped into my office.

"You in charge?"

"No, why"

"I just threw up I think i need to go home"

"Fair enough Dr. X is in charge... he just walked past here"

I went out to the break area a few minutes later.

I overheard, "X looked terrible"

"I heard she threw up"

"She must be pregnant"

Laughter from the guys. "No think she's actually sick, she looks terrible"

She walked back by, looking annoyed "I'm NOT pregnant"