Sunday, February 21, 2010

Haiku

It’s an interesting weekend on call. Two of the lovely ladies I saw in the GP clinic on Friday are brought in over the weekend, which is good and bad. They both seem happy to see me, although one of them starts to wonder if I am being overworked because she’s seen me three days in a row. This is a lady with an iron level of 2 (normal 10-14), CRP of 250, and possible bladder cancer, worrying that I might be getting tired. The other is an all-round worry wart who comes in because her rash isn’t better after one dose of oral prednisolone. The doctor makes her take a second tablet, she improves and is sent home. Very cute.

I get to admit a man with acute pancreatitis, a lady with diverticulitis, and chat to a 10-year-old girl with supraventricular tachycardia and a man with renal colic. I inspect a maggot-infested wound that I’ve seen a few weeks ago, the day the stitches came out when it was still beautiful and clean. I notice that our sweet, little old lady with mouth cancer is feeling much better, and is looking forward to moving back home. Lots of patients, lots of little stories, and the dreaded “DPS” is finally starting to make some sense.

Two of the patients have Sunday’s duty doctor stumped. They are both regulars of the clinic, so we take one each and read through their past histories. I take the 65-year-old lady with abdominal pain and hyponatraemia. She has significant history of UTIs, and PR bleeds a few years back, but nothing that really explains her current condition. She has a history of mood disorder, so it may be illness anxiety and psychogenic polydipsia. The only thing that really grabs me as I read through the notes, is the doctor’s documentation style.

Rash under left breast
Patient says it’s not itchy
It is tinea

I wish all the doctors would write like this.

No comments: