The Fabellista Chronicles: Days 3 to 8

Day 3 - May hangin din pala sa Fabella (OPD)

My day pretty much started like the rest, with me running around using my XT talents to good use before attempting to do a smattering of progress notes.. sigh..

This has got to be one of the better posts for our stay at this hospital. At least you'll be free of the hot oven-like atmosphere within the hospital. OPD patients are seen at this covered open-air space located beside the hospital building. Ang sarap! You just sit around interviewing patients as they come before sending them into the OPD building. Chicken! :D And the best part of it is that you can complete a rotation requirement (10 History and PEs at the OPD) in one day!

However, things weren't as easy for me, 'coz I had to run back to the lab every so often to follow up the results of our patients... =(

Day 4 - Labor of Love (PRE-DUTY)

Things were gonna be different today, since it was gonna be the first time we would be in scrubs at our post in the LR-DR Complex (Labor Room, Delivery Room). Pre-duty clerks man the LR from 7-4, after which the Duty clerks (who are on DR detail) split up to cover both areas. LR jobs are quite simple and straightforward. You basically monitor the LR patients, insert IV lines, and get called to be the OR clerk when there's an operation to be done. Oh, and the most toxic job in the OR goes to the one assigned as the runner. Th runner is basically a gofer guy. He/she would not be in scrubs and had limited movement in the LR/DR complex. His/her job is to run to the lab and back with specimens, results, blood for transfusion, etc.

This day kinda went well. I wasn't a runner (thank God!) and I assisted in 2 cesarian sections(the requirement is 5).

Day 5 - Baby out!! (DUTY)

In any scenario, 24-hour duty is never a good thing. We braced ourselves for the worst.. and we got it.. In the delivery room, you are expected to deliver babies.. enough said.. However, we didn't know how yet, and thus we proceeded higher up the learning curve. Little did I know that at the end of the day (or should i say, at the start of the next), I'd find myself with skills that I never thought I had, doing things I never thought I could do...

The day went by slowly, with the residents patiently teaching us the intricacies of assisting normal spontaneous deliveries. We also had nursing students in the DR with us, as they also had requirements to complete. As a rule, all primigravids (that's first-time pregnancies to you non-med people) belong to us, the medical clerks, since they usually reqired episiotomy and episorraphy (in other words, incision and suturing). The multigravids (2nd pregnancy and up) came under the domain of the nursing people, since the vaginal outlet was usually already lax already after having previously given birth.

As the day dragged on, I found myself being amazed at the volume of women giving birth and passing out kids and placentas.. At 4PM, the LR guys left and our group was split into two to cover both terrritories. As a result, I attended two more caesarian operations, and tired myself out by being the runner from 9PM to 1AM..

Once I got back in my scrubs to man the DR, business was pretty slow.. until patients started coming in in packs until...

Day 6 - Placenta out!! (FROM)

I remeber it well.. it was around 1:30 am when I was able to complete my first episiorraphy (that's repair for you guys). I had to do it by hand, since I still didn't quite get the concept of instrument tying.. But a close wound is a closed wound, so chalk one up for the good guys. =D

When it hit around 4:00am, people were starting to get pretty tense and irritable due to the lack of sleep. But that's when the pregnant women started arriving, one after the other, and most of them were primis!!! =P Good Lord, I thought that day would never end!!!I was finally able to get the hang of instrument tying and performed my frist delivery. Cool pare. =D It was tiring, but well worth it.

At 8am, we were relieved by the incoming duty clerks and we proceeded to to our progress notes and labs before going home. I also prepared the laboratory requests that I was gonna use for the next day so I wouldn't waste too much time writing in the morning.

Up to this point, I still have no idea how I managed to stagger home after that very draining duty. What a night!!!

Day 7 - Discharges (WARD)

We had ward duty today. Fortunately, it was a Saturday, and we only had half-day duty! Unfortunately, I still had to run my usual gamut of laboratory examinations that needed to be done, plus two other patients who weren't under me but I still had to draw specimens from 'coz they were under the responsibility of the group. Once at the releasing ward, things went a bit more smoother this time around, seeing as we've already completed a full cycle of duties. At least we now had an idea of what to expect. Suddenly, the wards didn't seem as daunting as they were during our first day. The only downside to this day was that we were detained at the log-out point by a resident who was hell-bent on teaching us the finer points of proper endorsement.. Thank God Braix was there..

Day 8 - Fabella, benign?!? (OPD)

It's a Sunday, and the OPD is closed! Yahoo! This meant that all we had to do was finish up our progress notes for the day then we were home free!! =D I went along on my merry way, taking my sweet time 'coz I had all the time in the world to do the progress notes. Fortunately, Discharge day had just ended, so there were few patients left to work on, at least, until the next cycle of admissions and deliveries..

And so here I am blogging away 'coz we had it easy this time around. Tomorrow is Pre-duty day. I still need to get some more CS assists under my belt..