Somewhere in Texas |
Dr. Tooth Fairy |
During my first weekend, we took full advantage of our time off. Corpus Christi is right on the gulf coast and the weather makes it feel like summer. So of course we went to the beach. I tried surfing for the first time. It is really hard! People make it look so easy but I had the hardest time maintaining my balance. But in the end I got a good photo op and a salt water sinus rinse :-) We ended the perfect day by the water with some delicious fish and chips while watching the sunset. It was a great day. On Sunday it was time for brunch. To continue with my Texas education I had chicken and waffles. Interesting combination that actually tastes really good together. Some other fun things we did as a med school family was take the Ghost Roll Sushi Challenge. It was a mistake! After one piece each we were all in tears! I actually think I burned away some of my stomach lining. Even after that, none of us can think back on that night without laughing.
Week 2 began with me back on the floors and then onto the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). This week was a little more frustrating for me. I had some difficult patients that really made me ask some serious questions about medicine in general. One infant had minimal brain function and was on a respirator. This child has no quality of life and yet everything medically is being done to keep this child alive. He has been through multiple surgeries and will definitely have more in his future. When is enough enough? When does mercy step in and medicine step back? I admit that I am coming into the picture late and I never had the privilege of seeing this child really alive and thriving. I am not a mother and so cannot speak with the opinion of one. I never held him in my arms, have never seen him open his eyes. Maybe with the hope of having that child back is what keeps this family fighting... I honestly don't know. I have only seen him sick and what looks like suffering to me and it breaks my heart. In a situation like this there are no right or wrong answers but it really makes me think.
Another difficult situation I came across was a teenager post kidney transplant. This child had been given an incredible gift several years ago. They were given a second chance. Why were they in the hospital you ask? Because they were in kidney failure due to rejection and all because they didn't take their anti-rejection meds. Again, I can't speak from experience and I can image having to take drugs twice daily for the rest of your life can be annoying but really isn't that better than being back in kidney failure? I was shocked to learn that noncompliance with anti-rejection meds is a huge problem in the teenage population. Statistics show the highest risk for organ failure due to noncompliance is having an 18th birthday within 3 years of your transplant. Some physicians are arguing to make teenagers be on dialysis, just to show them how much it sucks, before receiving a new kidney in the hopes of raising compliance rates. If that isn't a big enough ethical question for you, then how about this. Do patients who go into organ failure due to noncompliance get the same priority for a second transplant as those on the list for the first time? Do they get a third chance? I don't have the answers and I do not envy any member on the ethics committee.
In the PICU I got to care for a lot of congenital heart disease. There are so many different defects that a heart can be born with and the surgeries to repair them all are pretty amazing. It's awesome seeing a baby looking really sick before surgery and within 12 hours post surgery they are awake, being held, eating, and smiling. I was really surprised at how fast these kids recover. And the babies are all so cute! They are also a puzzle. You can't ask a baby what's wrong and how are they feeling. You have to discover it all for yourself by using clues and your observational skills. It's a mystery waiting to be solved by me. It's fun and exciting most of the times. Sometimes it's frustrating. Like knowing when a baby is just fussy or fussy because they're in pain.
I have one week left here in Corpus. And I spend it doing heme/onc. It's the moment of truth. As some of you may know I've been telling people since I was 6 years old that I was going to be a pediatric oncologist. Now we will find out if it's everything I think it is. Wish me luck!
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