Call Me

You should be careful what you wish for. My attending was on call last weekend and subsequently we became much busier this week. Basically anyone who comes into the hospital who doesn't already have a doctor will get admitted under the doctor who is on call. So we picked up all of those patients along with all of his regular patients who came into the hospital as well. Needless to say, I worked a lot more this week. Luckily things started to slow down a bit as the week progressed and by Friday we had discharged a lot of those patients. Regardless, I averaged around 13 hours a day this week.

I was also involved in my first emergent "doctor, we need you" situation. It was at the end of a very busy day. I had already worked 12 or 13 hours and the unit was relatively calm. I was just finishing up some paperwork when I got the request. I went down to the patient room, a patient I knew nothing about. He was in severe respiratory distress but denied chest pain. I will be honest, I didn't handle the situation very well. I kind of went blank. One of the rules of "The House of God" is that at any cardiac/respiratory arrest, the first thing to do is take your own pulse. I think there is an element of truth to that. Regardless of how I handled the situation, I know I will be better in the future. I just have to remember to do simple things: oxygen, ekg, etc. I am just glad my attending happened to be nearby when all of this happened.

Not everything this week was stressful. Thursday night a co-resident and I went downtown to Fogo de Chao for a pharmacy company presentation and dinner. I had never been there before, but have heard good things. This place was amazing. You have these cards on your table and as long as the green side is up, the waiters will just continue to bring you food. They will bring out these pieces of meat that are as big as cow's thighs on skewers, and they ask you how you want it cooked and they will cut a slice off the skewer depending on how you like your steak. The meat is very high quality and cooked perfect. The salad bar is excellent too. Not only was the food amazing, but the whole dining experience was a lot of fun and quite unique. Imagine being offered so much top quality steak that you actually have to start turning them down when they ask you for more! You kind of feel like a king. I ate so much that I was completely full until noon the next day. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you don't mind spending a few extra bucks for great food and great service.

Fogo de Chao
Price Range: $$$$
Rating: 5 Cheeseburgers
Location: Downtown Indianapolis

Tomorrow and Sunday I am on call from 7AM to 7PM. The attending will be there for a bit to help with morning rounds, but after she leaves it is up to me. I am hoping for a nice, calm, quiet day. And if I get another one of those emergent "doctor, we need you" calls, hopefully I will handle the situation a bit better this time around. I know I will.