Taste Life Blog

Hey everybody,

I’m six weeks into my surgery rotation and this is my second week on trauma surgery.  I’d definitely say it’s been one of the most eye-opening and thought provoking experiences I’ve had in life thus far.  I’m at the hospital a lot, in the surgery intensive care unit, in the emergency department (favorite), on the floors, and in the OR working with doctors, nurses, and patients.  Seen a lot of things in the short two weeks so far in terms of what brings people into the hospital, interactions between doctors/nurses/patients, and the outcomes of conventional medical treatment.  It’s a rollercoaster ride, but a good one, and learning A LOT about how I plan to practice medicine in my career to always be compassionate, never judge anybody, treat everyone equal, and be a strong advocate for my patients and their rights.  Anyways, I’m exhausted, this is getting too long, so let’s get to the point:

Life gives us tough cards to play sometimes, but with the right mindset, knowledge, and preparation, things can always go well.  Not meant to be sad, but here’s some things I’ve learned from the past month mostly the last 2 weeks and wanted to share.

1. Drive the car/motorcycle safely and wear the seatbelt.  If there’s a crash try to not get hurt, not hurt your head/chest/abdomen/genitals, or make sure you die.

2.  If you have a wound or something strange on your body, make sure to wash it and put ointment ASAP or get it looked at.  Not weeks/months/years later.

3. Always be calm, patient, and courteous with hospital staff/nurses/doctors, not doing so will affect the kind of care that is received, make staff quick to judge the patient as crazy and gossip, and could call into question the patient’s decision making capacity aka possibly losing all freedom

4. EMTs, nurses, and doctors can be very mean and punitive to people/kids who are intoxicated/drunk/too much drugs making for a miserable and horrifying patient experience and it seems like all that’s done for most cases is sedation, hydration, and observation or withdrawal seizure prevention, respiratory depression is prevented with heroin, BP is controlled with cocaine.  If the patient resists, they will be put on restraints.  Intoxicated patients lose decision making capacity until they are sober.

5. If you ever end up in the hospital/ER, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and clarify why they are suggesting a certain treatment knowing that you have the right to refuse, ask for a patient’s bill of rights, be assertive with asking about labs/imaging/biopsy results, make decisions together with the doctor especially surgeons and don’t let them make the decision for you or push you into it

6. Don’t be surprised/take it personal if nurses/doctors aren’t compassionate/caring.  This especially goes for EMTs; don’t assume anybody is your friend.
7. If you ever have to have surgery, know all the possible outcomes/complications crystal clear, know what to expect, don’t accept ambiguous answers.  Ask about ICU stays, mechanical ventilation, functional status, quality of life.  Read the procedure consent carefully; ask for revisions if you disagree.

8. Really try to avoid having abdominal surgery of any kind, especially involving the gastrointestinal tract.

9. If you have surgery, make sure the doctor is really skilled and experienced; ask how many times they’ve done the procedure and how many bad outcomes they’ve had.

10. Fill out an advanced directive/durable power of attorney and make sure to address resuscitation, endotracheal and tracheostomy intubation, mechanical ventilation, pulmonary artery catheterization, invasive arterial/venous catheters, etc.  Know your parents’ advanced directives and end-of-life wishes so that there is no uncertainty when the time comes for things to be carried out.  Make copies of these documents, make sure your primary care doctor/durable power of attorney/lawyer/family/close friends have copies and know/understand your wishes.

11. If you have a family member in the hospital and you are the designated family representative/designated surrogate, be assertive about asking about test results, the plan, diagnosis, and firm about carrying out their wishes.  You might otherwise might not be told what’s going on at all or be told in a confusing ambiguous way.

12. To most all hospital staff, although death is inevitable, it equals failure and nobody wants to be associated with failure.  Dying with dignity unconnected to tubes and machines doesn’t happen in the ICU.  If you are suffering tremendously and have no more desire to live, the hospital staff will do everything they can to change your mind or get a psych consult to determine that you no longer have decision making capacity so that you can keep being “treated”.  Or you could be intubated/sedated/unconscious in the ICU and unable to communicate your wishes.  Advanced directive/designated surrogate is key here.

13. There are good doctors and nurses out there.