Thursday, February 03, 2005
It's Good To Talk
This is in a way a recipe, but not something you want an hour before midnight when you're on call..
1) 2 men
2) both sugeons
3) 2 sickly patients, both couldn't wait till morning, therefore by definition: an emergency, and have to go to theatre NOW. ish.
Surgeon A thinks his patient, although booked second, needs to go first, so he kindly told me. It's a ruptured appendix. Patient is toxic, very unwell, fulminant. Fair enough.
Surgeon B, who's got a boy with fratured elbow with a bit of swelling is under the impression that he's going first. Because he's booked it first. First come first serve in this country is not something to be taken with a pinch of salt. He's qualifying criteria: compartmental syndrome. Disastrous, limb goes dead, must amputate, limbless - not something you want to happen to a 14 year old, or anybody for that matter. Fair enough.
My logic says first patient with the appendix possibly already spilling tonight's chilly con-carne all over the peritoneum, is sicker, so go on, you can cut the queue, but out of courtesy , matter should be discussed with Surgeon B. Exactly my words.
Did surgeon A do that? NOOOOOooooooo. You kidding me? That would be absolutely detrimental to the sacraments upheld by the school of surgeons for donkeys years. So they decided not to talk to each other and surgeon A went headlong with 'my' new plan.
These two, physically are robust and both bluescrub bottoms, when they have them on, hang down only to midcalf half of the time. Even some playful snatching and grabbing between them, would cause other casualties, whatmore a proper fight.
So, after some fuming, earbashing, choking moments later, you have one slagging the other, and the other slagging back in some approaching cryptic blasphemic alterego godcomplex manner. Until this hour, I still couldn't wrap my head round what the problem really was. What is wrong with picking up the phone and ask? Or is it discuss? Aiyooo lah.
I was, needless to say stuck in the middle. I no say nothing. I small gas woman. You big people you talk. Don't kill, 2 patients enough already. Leave me alone, out of it.
While all that was happening, my mind wondered off... Opik-Oort cloud, Beatlegeus and the galaxies far far away.
Men...enough said.
1) 2 men
2) both sugeons
3) 2 sickly patients, both couldn't wait till morning, therefore by definition: an emergency, and have to go to theatre NOW. ish.
Surgeon A thinks his patient, although booked second, needs to go first, so he kindly told me. It's a ruptured appendix. Patient is toxic, very unwell, fulminant. Fair enough.
Surgeon B, who's got a boy with fratured elbow with a bit of swelling is under the impression that he's going first. Because he's booked it first. First come first serve in this country is not something to be taken with a pinch of salt. He's qualifying criteria: compartmental syndrome. Disastrous, limb goes dead, must amputate, limbless - not something you want to happen to a 14 year old, or anybody for that matter. Fair enough.
My logic says first patient with the appendix possibly already spilling tonight's chilly con-carne all over the peritoneum, is sicker, so go on, you can cut the queue, but out of courtesy , matter should be discussed with Surgeon B. Exactly my words.
Did surgeon A do that? NOOOOOooooooo. You kidding me? That would be absolutely detrimental to the sacraments upheld by the school of surgeons for donkeys years. So they decided not to talk to each other and surgeon A went headlong with 'my' new plan.
These two, physically are robust and both bluescrub bottoms, when they have them on, hang down only to midcalf half of the time. Even some playful snatching and grabbing between them, would cause other casualties, whatmore a proper fight.
So, after some fuming, earbashing, choking moments later, you have one slagging the other, and the other slagging back in some approaching cryptic blasphemic alterego godcomplex manner. Until this hour, I still couldn't wrap my head round what the problem really was. What is wrong with picking up the phone and ask? Or is it discuss? Aiyooo lah.
I was, needless to say stuck in the middle. I no say nothing. I small gas woman. You big people you talk. Don't kill, 2 patients enough already. Leave me alone, out of it.
While all that was happening, my mind wondered off... Opik-Oort cloud, Beatlegeus and the galaxies far far away.
Men...enough said.
