Other interesting tidbits...

Ah well back at home now, only to leave again in a couple of hours. This time not to Sydney though, but to Cowra doing a one week locum for my ex-employers. I really enjoyed my week doing the OT round in Westmead Hospital. The whole anaesthesia department there worked quite well as a team and they seem to have quite a few socials such as a trathlon and a fancy dress ball coming up. Its good to see they can also have fun together. Every morning, they get some loaves of bread in the tea room and there is always an endless supply of those little packs of jam, peanutbutter, honey and butter or margerine. I know that the dental departments don't get treated as well !! They even have cordial as an alternative to tea and coffee :P

During the last few days, I saw some other interesting things such as a caesarean delivery ... you could tell when the gynae cut through the uterus because water suddenly went everywhere! The patient had told us before she went under that this was baby no 4 so she had also requested for the surgeon to tie her tubes after the caesarean. Thus the baby was all cleaned up and put in his little crib and checked out by the paediatrician and mum was still asleep. The crib had a cool incubator heater thing over the top like a little shelter, but they didn't have to turn it on as he was quite healthy and pink. I had never seen a live delivery before ... really interesting to see something so new in this world.

I also saw the last bit of a leg amputation, a toe amputation (mostly diabetic patients), and I even had a day in the emergency OT where a guy on a motorbike had had a match with a truck and lost. He had a broken tibia (front bone in the calf) and a nail wedged between the two bones in there. When he met the surgeon he said "Your job is like mine ... you are like fitters and turners I've seen your instruments!" The surgeon just smiled ... I haven't seen what fitters and turners do but there was quite a racket trying to push the bone back in place without doing open surgery. Nowadays, just cutting a small opening and putting different tools in to move the bones or vessels is the norm rather than opening up the length of leg similar to the length of broken bone and setting it and sewing it all up again.

Another guy they brought in was eating an ice cream and driving on a freeway when he rammed up into the back of another car and had gotten caught under the dashboard. Not sure what happenned to the ice cream but he was a concern for doctors because he was very much overweight. This is a particular concern as drug dosages may need to be higher than advised just to get him asleep and that is a problem for his liver and kidneys. Also, they are concerned as the respirator machine also has to crank more gas in there to blow up his chest as his lungs are under quite a bit of weight. It was one case where I did not even want to try intubating and let the professionals do it instead.

Also heard .. patient to anaesthetist," Can you do me a favour? When I am under, can you watch where they put the leg tourniquet before they operate? Last time they caught my scrotum by accident. I couldn't move for 3 days and my balls went blue black!!"

I look forward to my next round of OTs which will be in March '07 and so will the sedation clinics. Meanwhile, back to normal drilling and filling. Will be looking forward to going back to Cowra and meeing up with friends again. Not sure what my net access will be like while there so I think the earliest I will be blogging again will be in a weeks time.