Humbug.

Once again, my profession is stepping up to try and ruin Christmas. Manitoba Christmas, to be more precise.

I'm sitting in a toasty living room while snow falls softly outside. My hot chocolate is Irish, my niece & nephew are napping and I don't have to shovel the walk again for at least 6 hours. Bliss, yes?

Weeeeell...

This morning we went to the Polar Bear zoo. As we walked around the "Churchill South" enclosure I was reminded of a story my boss told me.

A family med resident had gone up north with her new husband to celebrate their graduation from medicine. They canoed for 4 days, then were attacked by a bear. The girl was mauled until her husband fought the bear off with a pen-knife. He then carried his wife back through the wilderness for 3 days, trying to get help. She died on the way.

I told my in-laws this tale as we watched Hudson the Bear tearing apart a tire.

When I watch Mr G play with the kids, my first thought is, "That's how you break an arm", "That's how head injuries happen", "That kid is gonna aspirate that pen-cap"... He's big, they're small, he doesn't know the meaning of the word "aspirate".

I was hoping to let go and not think of work while we were in Manitoba, but it is not to be. Instead, I'm leaning in; when the kids nap, I'll read about mechanical ventilation. While my in-laws curl, I'll look up head-injury guidelines. As my father-in-law pounds litres of coke, I'll think about managing SVT in older adults.

Not very festive, but very G.

The Why & the How

I am on vacation this week, which means sleeping in, drinking expensive lattes and walking the dog as far as her paws can carry her. It also means a chance to catch up on my reading.

I started with "Pre-oxygenation in patients destined for Endotracheal Intubation".

It turns out that there are many things we do in the ER, that I do without thinking, that have a scientific basis I didn't know.

Why do we try and get a patient's oxygen saturation up to 100%?
Because when they drop below 90%, they lose the partial pressure of oxygen required to maintain saturation, de-saturate rapidly, develop cardiac arrythmias and die.

Why do we continue to oxygenate a patient after we have paralyzed them, effectively stopping their breathing?
Because oxygen behaves like a liquid, pooling in the back of the throat and diffusing into the lungs, even without the driving force of breath to guide it.

I know. These seem like things a kid could tell you.

Why do we breathe? Cos if you don't breathe, you die.

Still, it's nice to know that the things I do have science behind them. And I forgot how lovely academic reading can be. Coffee in hand, Pickle at my feet, knowledge washing over me in gentle waves. Almost distracts me from my imminent trip to Winnipeg. In November. Almost.

shift.

I got home from work at 2:45 am this morning. My boss of the night was very disorganized and likes to touch every patient before letting them leave the hospital. "I like to lay eyes on them, so I know you're telling me the truth..." As a result, instead of finishing at 1, I left at 2:30.

At home, the dog had eaten some chocolate chips, so I got to hear the tale of how Mr G had attempted to make her vomit (hydrogen peroxide in yoghurt, fingers in dog-mouth) and was now wracked by guilt and fear. Settling them both back to sleep (in the guest room; chocolate makes dogs poop) and I was asleep by 3:30.

I woke at 11:30 today. Washed myself, ate some food, and now it's time to go back to work. Days like this are a write-off (unless you consider burning through Netflix an achievement) and then I go, buy more coffee and go back to work. I have worn my sweat suit for the last 3 days straight. No point in changing, I've got scrubs to put on in an hour.

I know this is my dream job and technically, I'm getting all the perks of random hours. I can go to yoga in the middle of the day! No lineups at the bank! Brunch on a Wednesday morning!

I just wish it didn't take me 12 years of post-secondary education to finally start living like a teenager.