Almighty Bean

Here’s a picture of me holding a patient’s leg that just got skin grafting.  Simply explained, skin grafting is placing live skin from the same person’s body and placing it on the burnt area, hoping it will adapt and be the new skin.  All this I experienced in 1 week of burn… this is the last part of my surgery rotation *cry*… This is one of the most common, yet most alien part of surgery to me.  I didn’t get to see many cases of burn during clerkship, and even then, I wasn’t the one who was in charge of dressing them.   I again was proved “toxic” by my fellow interns, because I gained a total of 5 consults compared to the usual ZERO.  Yup, during the day of my duty, people came in because:

1. they were at a rooftop holding a metal rod which happened to touch live wire,

2. their 4 year old child accidentally was splashed by hot water,

3. a 20 yr old woman who was scalded last week, did not clean her wound AT ALL until she came to us,

4. another woman spilled phenol on herself, and

5. a drunk guy played with a kerosene lamp and it exploded on his face…

Yup that’s what my duty was like.  Good Lord people, why can’t you guys be careful… Tomorrow I am on duty again, so please please just sit still for a change people of the Philippines… on the lighter side of things, at least i got all that experience in just one duty.  When my friend Sam went on duty yesterday, she didn’t have a single consult.  Good or Bad? It depends on how you look at things.  Good, means you got to rest, Bad, means you came to the hospital just to sleep and the reason why you went to PGH (that is, to get more exposure) is non-existent.

I really hate getting patients who are babies with scald burns… It’s a sign of great neglect from the parents or guardians… It’s never a pretty sight to see a baby, who is so innocent, to have injuries like that, even if they incessantly cry… One thing I hate more than that are drunks… drunkards in general who come in to the ER with injuries from fights or from clutzyness.. They smell awful and they treat u like shit… When I get patients like this, no mercy.  Just treat them and teach them a lesson.  Plus they come into the ER at wee hours of the night, waking u from sleep because they are intoxicated.  That’s why i like the fact that anesthesia doesn’t work on drunk people. It is just fair.

They say burns are the worst kind of trauma a person can get… Even if it really hurts for them to get cleaned up everyday, It is amazing to see their wounds getting better and better everyday.  That’s what I like about surgery… Results of your work are easily seen ^ ^ It’s almost over. But I’ve made up my mind, surgery is really a cool thing for me to be in, and it’s harder to see myself in any other field.

NOTE: The picture of the baby has been taken down because it has caused a ruckus among some of the members of the online community.  Although the picture was taken and uploaded with permission of the baby’s parents, I cannot let such pictures cause a scandal.  This blog was only meant to share my experiences and the things I learn throughout my life as a medical student and practitioner, and I have always made anonymity a priority, and made sure credit is given where credit is due.  Thanks again to my supporters.