I was seeing a patient in the ER this morning and she seriously would. not. stop. talking. Except she wasn't actually talking about anything pertaining to her hip fracture. She was just talking. Finally I had to say "please stop talking and listen to me for a minute," which is really not the sort of the thing they teach you to do in med school, but desperate situations call for desperate measures.
Patient: So when my daughter was pregnant with my granddaughter, the doctor said my granddaughter didn't have a brain. And the supreme court wanted my daughter to have an abortion! Can you believe that? They would want her to kill my granddaughter!
Me: So, uh, what happened?
Patient: The best thing that could have happened. While my daughter was in labor, my granddaughter died. It was exactly as G-d wanted it and we were so thankful.
...and that was officially the most f*cked up story I heard all day. Which is saying something when your 24-hour time period includes doing a repair of a spaghetti wrist in a 25 year old who claimed to have been on methadone for chronic pain since age 7.
I had no idea you were a resident in the nation's only dual psych-ortho program! :)
ReplyDeleteI want to be a resident at an ortho program that excludes psych. All the programs I have seen are combined. As my PD says, trauma is a lifestyle which does not attract the brightest and best.
DeleteMy thoughts exactly.
DeleteYay! Orthochick!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back., Orthochick! And what a comeback!
ReplyDeleteMy niece's husband is doing his Internship rotation in the Emergency Dept. When I asked if he had done one in Psych, his answer was it might as well be Psych in Emergency!
You know, the sad part about this is that I sort of didn't bat an eyelash. I work for the government.
ReplyDeleteMaybe doctors should become government workers.
Maybe it's terrible, but it's one of the things I love about being an anesthesiologist. People start telling this awful stories (and the ones under a little pre-op sedation can be very cringe-worthy). I just keep saying, "That's nice" and "Oh, you don't say" and induce general anesthesia.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Orthochick! Great story. As a pathologist, I love NOT having conversations like this. (Usually.)
ReplyDeleteHow sheltered are you in orthopedics?? This type of story is what I deal with on a regular basis. I'll ask an innocent question ("How are you today?") and suddenly there's crying and I hear the worst story I've ever heard ever. And then the next patient just goes right ahead and picks it up another notch. I'm in PEDIATRICS for heavens sake.
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