codes

i walk on to the ward to see my patient in bed 8. there is a man in 6. he looked terrible. his breathing was real shallow. his skin was grey. it reminded me of patients in gandarra. 'that man looks pretty unwell. somebody should check him out. do a set of obs or something.' the nurses kept on talking. so i kept on walking. a minute later, while i was looking at my patients chart and exchanging pleasantries, chimes sound overhead: 'code blue, ward ***, code blue, ward ***, code blue, ward ***'

shit

there was one bag and masking at the head. one doing cpr. a third fluttering about. 'whats the story? what did he come in with?' the crash cart arrives. i jumped on the bed and take over cpr. the ribs cracked under my hands. there is a rhythm on the monitor but no output. he got a shot of adrenaline and another of atropine. time went by. a few more ribs cracked. we checked for output for a few times. it felt like forever. i got into a zone. pump-pump-pump-pump. and then: 'okay stop thats it.' it's all over. time of death: 0940hrs.

*

'mrs *** has just vomited what looks like coffee grounds. can you please come and review her?' it's 2135hrs. 25 minutes before i knock off. wonderful. i walk into the room: 'can i see the vomit?' it looked faeculent. it smelt faeculent. 'hello *** what's going on? how are you feeling? have you got any pain?' nod shake mumble. abdomen tense. no bowel sounds. bowels day four. 'can someone do a set of obs? and take some blood?' i went back to the desk to read the file. it's 2140hrs. 87 year old woman with septic arthritis transferred from another hospital after they overloaded her. then the team overdiuresed her. a million other medical problems. now she's just plain confused and not responding to antibiotics. not for resuscitation. not for met calls. fan-fucking-tastic. 'doctor we just did her blood pressure and it's 80'. i return to the bedside. no access. no bloods. 'okay we need a fluid bolus of 250mls normal saline, iv pantoprazole 40mg and granisetron 1mg, i'll put int a drip and somebody call in xray.' cannula goes in the right hand. vomiting becomes uncontrollable. 'lie her on her left side and suction. she might aspirate.' i go to call in the surgical reg. 2150hrs. 'ortho patient? call ortho reg. bye.' for fucks sake. 'faeculent vomiting? that sounds bad. do you think it's a bowel obstruction? isn't that a general surgical problem? hmm... okay im coming in.' 'doctor she's just became unconscious.' rush back to her bedside. she's aspirating. flatten the bed and turn her onto her side. did the finger sweep. took out her dentures. suction. 'can someone please call a met call?' 'she's not for met calls.' 'oh that's right.' fuck fuck fuck. 'well can you please get 2.5mg of morphine please? no make that 10mg.' she stops breathing. no pulses. i listen with my stethoscope. no breath sounds. no heart sounds. pupils non-reactive to light. time of death: 2200hrs.

i stand back and flick off my vomit covered gloves. as i walk past the curtains and out the door i run in the ortho reg. 'hi how is she going?' just look at me: im a motherfucking tired flu-ridden black thundercloud.

milestones

min and xiang at the golden monkey for min's birthday. sis drank and smoked like a natural, which disturbed min and i just a little. happy birthday minnie!


maso in her hilarious german outfit, at vanessa's going away party.


nice hat, weif *grin*


jonno eating the last san chai bow, much to clare's dismay.

shit leads to shit

it was a miserably overcast windy morning when jonno and i decided we would go on a roadtrip. We set off in the car, without a destination in mind. first we stopped by a nearby shell servo and grabbed some supplies. as we were near the old keith house, we swung by and said hello. vince and mel were just about to set off on a roadtrip of their own.

as they actually had a destination in mind, jonno and i naturally decided their destination would become our own. we celebrated this decision with a cigarette outside the old people's homes. it was a good start.

we would meet at avoca around 2pm. prince was our soundtrack. little red corvette accompanied us as we sped past many 'window xp moments'. the landscape was gorgeous. the sun played hide and seek with the clouds. at our rendezvous we had lunch at the famous avoca pie shop. out the front were ten or so hogs and their bearded riders. they, too, were having pies.

bob dylan sang about a simple twist of fate as we visited various nearby wineries. mel and vince were clucking about like an old married couple and we threatened to tape the conversation and play it at their wedding. we heard about a med students party and decided to drop by, but not before having a counter meal at the peter lalor hotel. it was a busy little joint. our food took ages to arrive, which only made tea the best meal i've had for a long time.

the party was a let down. there were fifteen or some random strangers. a four year old child. and maree pekin. i don't think they were related. jonno and i escaped to brumble and byron's house, and watched rage until 3am. sometime rage surprises you and it was one of those nights. hit after hit poured out of the box. i was satisfied, bitching about byron's smelly feet with brumbles and eating all the junk food in her house. we all hit jonno's gin and got toasted.

and now, settling down to a sunday afternoon filled with laziness...

daylesford

last night galaxy came up from melbourne to visit us. we went out to dinner with kate and pete, then drinks at lakies with jonno and merle. today we went to daylesford with kate, pete and brumbles. it was a gorgeous day, the sun out, everything green and blue and WARM! it was absolutely perfect.

the best place we went to in daylesford was the convent gallery and gardens. minnie would've loved the place.




kabuki!