January 11 Tell Me a Story
BLKinOR, Jan 17, 2021
- Description:
- 719 words
I used Lynn Grieveson I Get Back Up (papers & elements) & modified a Simple Scrapper member template #306
Journaling follows:
"Mom, I have diarrhea"
Definitely the words no mother wants to hear 12 hours before a trip to the Guatemalan jungle. Too late to cancel, we could only hope that the prescribed antibiotic & recommended OTC treatment would do the trick before our morning flight.
"Here take this antibiotic pill."
Twenty minutes later she emerges from the bathroom wondering why it's so hard to swallow and why she's so itchy. One look at her and I'm gathering money and travel documents because I know this is anaphylaxis. I've seen this before but never in a hotel room. I want/need a hospital, oxygen, epinephrine, monitors and more. I call the front desk for an ambulance and carry her (and her shoes) to the elevator. When we reach the lobby, I find a group of medical student conference volunteers telling the desk clerk "No, don't call an ambulance". One says "I'll bring the car around". Another explains to me that we should go to a nearby private teaching hospital for quicker access to care. "We know where to take you and we will do it now, just 10 minutes away." I trust them. Her shoes are on before the car arrives. Her father has reached the lobby. I carry her to the car. She sits between her father and I in the back seat. The students are in the front seat and off we go through the night.
In the car I can't see well enough to be sure she isn’t cyanotic so I hold her hand with my finger on her pulse. I can almost hear my residency clinical director, Dr. Selvin, urging me to have a finger on a patient's pulse at all times. The wheezing child‘s heart is racing. a few minutes later i notice increasing irregularity in her pulse. I hope and pray that I'm not detecting PVCs. I begin to consider how I would manage her airway if she stopped breathing. Perhaps the only possibly useful item I have is a BIC pen.
I redouble my efforts to keep her as calm as possible. Look at me, I'm breathing with you, we are almost there, I'm here, You will be okay. As an anesthesiologist I know how critical this situation is, she has no idea, her father has no idea as I manage to calm them both. The medical students understand.
WE ARRIVE!
The medical students run, explaining the situation (in Spanish) to a resident on-call. They point me in the direction of the closest exam room. I sit her on the stretcher, grab oxygen tubing off the wall and have her breathing 10L/min in seconds. I'm attaching the ECG monitor as the resident runs in with epi. Brief exam, history, epi and her wheezing clears even quicker than I could have hoped. She and I spend the night in the ICU (seemingly defined by the fact that there is now a pulse oximeter in the room). The medical students take her father back to the hotel. An attending comes to see her. I know some Spanish. He knows some English, Luckily we both know the vocabulary of medicine and we understand each other using that shared language. A cot is brought for me & I set the pulse ox alarms as loud as possible before settling down for a fitful sleep. She's exhausted and falls deeply asleep quickly. Thankfully, no more diarrhea.
In the morning, she poses for a photo with one of the nurses who cared for her. The attending clears her for discharge. I have enough cash and travelers checks to pay the hospital bill in full before we leave. I hope that her father has some cash since I'm cleaned out and credit cards weren't widely accepted in Guatemala then . We return to our hotel. We take more photos with medical students who stop to check on her. So thankful that we found help to save her life. Also thankful that I, her anesthesiologist parent, was there at the time. Later I carry an epi pen at all times. Thankfully, none were ever needed.
Back in Baltimore, my colleagues find my story exciting & scary. When I get to the part about my finger on C's pulse most interrupt saying the same thing, "Dr. Selvin would be so proud of you."
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- Category:
- Month of Challenges 9
- Uploaded By:
- BLKinOR
- Date:
- Jan 17, 2021
- View Count:
- 201
- Comment Count:
- 4
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