Dear Grandpa,
Today I took care of a patient that could have been you. Like you Alzheimer’s has altered much of his mind and like you did through your illness he has maintained his sweet, gentle spirit. It’s been nearly decade since we said goodbye, but today it felt like I was helping you- helping you in ways my fifteen year old self did not and could not do.
His sweet smile warmed my heart and broke it with memories of you at the same time. He didn’t say much, but he laughed as I joked and his softly spoken, “Thank you” was the kindest and most sincere I have ever heard. Sometimes, it’s possible to love someone you have just met - even if it’s for a brief encounter - just a 12 hour shift.
I’m sorry my teenage self was too dumb to realize what a gift time with you was; I want to go back and shake her. I hope you would be proud of me today. So much of what I do today, I do with you in mind- caring for patients the way I would want you to be cared for.
All of my love.
blackshuckofficial-deactivated2
I may not have the best body but it sure does hold all my organs in place
yoitsmvddi
this is the type of positivity i need.
the-memedaddy
twinkcommunist
In case anyone’s wondering is because getting an x ray once is so barely harmful that it rounds to zero but standing in front of an x ray emitter 40 hours a week for years will definitely kill you
If I go to the bar and have one drink with the bartender I’ll be fine. If the bartender has a drink with every patron then they will die
This is all true and immediately obvious to anyone who thinks about it for more than 1.5 seconds, but it doesn’t change the fact that “dude goes to egypt to press a button” is still the funniest set of words I’ve read today.
Pt comes in to ER because a can of corn fell on his head (no LOC, no hematoma)
me: immune system why do i have a fever
immune system: well the bacteria can’t survive outside 37 degrees for long so i thought i’d raise the temperature to kill them off!
me:
immune system:
me:
immune system:
me: we also can’t survive outside 37 degrees for long
immune system:
asmokeythebear
me: immune system why do i have a fever
immune system: well the bacteria can’t survive outside 37 degrees for long so i thought i’d raise the temperature to kill them off!
me:
immune system:
me:
immune system:
me: we also can’t survive outside 37 degrees for long
immune system:
beeftea78-deactivated20200113
Throwback to the time my poor German teacher had to explain the concept of formal and informal pronouns to a class full of Australians and everyone was scandalised and loudly complained “why can’t I treat everyone the same?” “I don’t want to be a Sie!” “but being friendly is respectful!” “wouldn’t using ‘du’ just show I like them?” until one guy conceded “I suppose maybe I’d use Sie with someone like the prime minister, if he weren’t such a cunt” and my teacher ended up with her head in her hands saying “you are all banned from using du until I can trust you”
God help Japanese teachers in Australia.
if this isnt an accurate representation of australia idk what is
derinthemadscientist
Australia’s reverse-formality respect culture is fascinating. We don’t even really think about it until we try to communicate or learn about another culture and the rules that are pretty standard for most of the world just feel so wrong. I went to America this one time and I kept automatically thinking that strangers using ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ were sassing me.
Australians could not be trusted with a language with ingrained tiers of formal address. The most formal forms would immediately become synonyms for ‘go fuck yourself’ and if you weren’t using the most informal version possible within three sentences of meeting someone they’d take it to mean you hated them.
100% true.
the difference between “‘scuse me” and “excuse me” is a fistfight
See also: the Australian habit of insulting people by way of showing affection, which other English-speakers also do, but not in a context where deescalating the spoken invective actively increases the degree of offence intended, particularly if you’ve just been affectionately-insulting with someone else.
By which I mean: if you’ve just called your best mate an absolute dickhead, you can’t then call a hated politician something that’s (technically) worse, like a total fuckwit, because that would imply either that you were really insulting your mate or that you like the politician. Instead, you have to use a milder epithet, like bastard, to convey your seething hatred for the second person. But if your opening conversational gambit is slagging someone off, then it’s acceptable to go big (”The PM’s a total cockstain!”) at the outset.
Also note that different modifiers radically change the meaning of particular insults. Case in point: calling someone a fuckin’ cunt is a deadly insult, calling someone a mad cunt is a compliment, and calling someone a fuckin’ mad cunt means you’re literally in awe of them. Because STRAYA.
Heat Wave
Although we can see some of the blood vessels under our skin, many are buried deep. Here a technique called photoacoustic tomography reveals the hidden network of arteries and veins in an adult’s palm. Harmless laser pulses turn into tiny puffs of heat after hitting chemicals in the blood –helping to produce these maps of circulation. On the right, artificial colours pick out deeper vessels in red and yellow. These are mostly arteries, with veins lying nearer the surface of the skin in blue and green. After testing on healthy subjects, the technique may be applied to investigate conditions like varicose veins – looking for changes in the bends and twists of vessels – or to spot angiogenesis, the formation of new vessels common in breast cancer; guiding diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Written by John Ankers
- Image from work by Yoshiaki Matsumoto and Yasufumi Asao, and colleagues
- Department of Breast Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
- Published in Scientific Reports, January 2018
When all hell is breaking loose on the unit, but I’m remembering I‘m off tomorrow...
this patient has a history of left inguinal hernia. he presented with recurrent left inguinal pain. images show herniation of the urinary bladder into left inguinal canal!
Aspergilloma
A growth of fungus within an already pre-formed cavity, occuring in adults with cavitating lung disease e.g. TB, sarcoidosis, bronchiectasis. Most are asymptomatic but may present with haemoptysis which can be life-threatening if associated with erosion in to bronchial artery. Radiological features of a intracavitary mass, surrounded by a crescent of air.
Sources:
Me, when I’m dealing with a rude patient...
Overheard at 3AM in the ER...
“ You’ll tell the patient I do medicine, not magic!! ”
Every nurse,doctor, & healthcare worker I know... Early: “I chose this field to help people.” A year in...
trashfirefallon-deactivated2019
