Sunday, February 7, 2010

Together, making a difference





‘Wu, go to the Emergency Department STAT!’
-that was Dr Thurstan shouting over the phone.


27 year old, female lady, referred for lower abdominal pain.


BP 80/50
Pulse 130bpm, tachycardic.

She was pale, as white as a ghost, cold clammy hands.

Abdomen distended, tender, guarding.

Was referred from clinic TRO Acute appendicitis.

Further history revealed POA 10 weeks. Recent sexual activity.


UPT POSITIVE.

Scan stat: Uterus empty, fluid in POD.


DIAGNOSIS :

RUPTURED ECTOPIC TUBAL PREGNANCY



She was in hypovolumic SHOCK!!!

Or basically bleeding away.




She was dying.

We were losing her.



1 pint Packed Cells- emergency ‘O’ in transfusion.


Bloods sent for FBC, GXM 6 pints, coagulation profile.





S/B Dr Raj.
Within 5 minutes, the specialist and OT (Operating Theather) were informed, consent taken, and the patient was pushed to OT for a Laparotomy Salphingectomy.

(simply means cutting her open and removing her fallopion tube)


Dr Nadiya was running for bloods.



Surprisingly, that’s how efficient our Government Hospital can be in times of dire emergency at 8.00pm.



I was assisting Dr Raj at the Operation Theather.

INTRAOPERATIVELY:
Hemoperitoneum noted.
Blood was oozing from her peritoneal cavity.

Left ruptured tubal pregnancy was seen.
Left salphingectomy done.


Right ovary and tube normal
Estimated blood loss : 3.0 Liters
Hemostasis secured.



Food for thought:



This is one of those amazing days which reminds me the beauty of being a doctor despite the tiredness and stresses.
A normal lady have approximately 5 liters of blood.

And this lady, she was losing 3 liters, which was 60% of her body blood.
And was indeed still bleeding.

And something need to be done FAST.

The adrenaline rush.



In the end, Dr Raj and the team saved this young lady’s life.



I was doing post-operative rounds and reviewed the patient later.

Her vital signs stable, Blood transfusion on-going.

She was with her mother.

I explained the operative findings and future plans.

She managed a smile and said 'thanks'



And that, well, that is something that money or anything in the world can’t buy.

To all house officers, medical officers, specialist, staff nurses, PPK, hospital staffs,

Sometimes, life can be tiring, exhausting, with the heavy workload,
sleepless nights, empty stomachs, terrible stress, ache-ing feets.


Perhaps, we need to remind ourselves from time to time,
to be strong,
to hold on........

the people need us.....

friends, relatives, friends of friends...

we are one big family....




well, i did not had time for dinner until 12 midnight,
i had a hectic on-call,
but i guess, sometimes, it's still all worthwhile...

Together,
making a difference.......

9 comments:

  1. Well...i believe tats one of the reason we join this course...maybe not all...but most of us...good post!!love it!!a good motivator for me while facing the stress final exam!!thanks!!!hope u doing great there!!!:)

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  2. It's very much interesting regarding the fact that life and death issues come in very often in your every day life.. Hope you're doing fine and well.

    Take care..

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  3. I suddenly felt like watching grey's anatomy when Sandra Oh's character were having the same condition, I know drama and real life is not the same, and its trully worthwhile reading you writing about it. Keep up!!!

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  4. that's really amazing! im in o&g now so can understand what you are writing about.
    and it's times like this tat makes us feel that all the sacrifices we made to become a dr is worth it. :)
    do take care!

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  5. i like this post!

    but eh, i didnt shout la... i said very CALMLY "wu, raj says he's seeing an ectopic and asks u to go down A&E now, i dunno d details but i think maybe rupture d, go now, ok? faster... fast fast... and, call nadiyaa go OT!!"

    phew... did i actually say that much? lol

    had my McD at 4am... d fries not like fries d, coke like dunno wat, haha but it was a good day la, haha.... FUNDAL FUNDAL FUNDAL!!!!! huhu

    p.s: i think my role qualifies for d logbook "management of ectopic pregnancy" haha

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  6. this happened when we oncall 2gether that day,rite,i'm the OT call and u're the gynae call...the day DG came to visit us???i had a LSCS that time....not a good call for me that day...

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of love

Today, i heard a story which was not a story of falling...
of living in the dark end of winter turmoil..
instead, it was a love story..
of a couple who did not live happily ever after...
but they live, loving each other..