Mac Lesnick - 9

Gradually Faster

     Although I was told that this morning was one of the calmest mornings all year, it eventually picked up in the afternoon. Today I shadowed a nurse, Maria, in the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED). Yes, there were adorable babies there, but there were also kids up to the age of 18. I absolutely loved every minute of it! Even the slow part was nice because it was only in the morning, so I got a bit of time to wake up :). There were only four patients admitted before lunch, but they were minor issues. In the PED, they rate each patient 1-5, 1 being immediate attention/very critical and 5 being someone who probably could have gone to their regular doctor or a minute clinic. Regardless of their sickness, we did treat everyone who came in - even if it was just for a small dose of tylenol. While Maria and I were coming back from our lunch break, at patient with a care number of 2 was being carried in by his mom. This was the first major patient of the day, all of the other patients were 4's or 5's. So we set our bags down and rushed over to the patient's room to help the other nurses and doctors. The boy was unresponsive when he first arrived, but eventually came to as his mom put him down on the bed. All of a sudden, he started thrashing his arms and kicking his legs. No one was able to calm him down besides his mother, and it was only when she would pick him up. Maria told me that the boy have been a preemie when he was born, and it is very common that the NICU kids have to come back to the hospital every so often. Unfortunately, my day ended before I could see what would happen with the boy, but I could tell he had calmed down slightly before I left.

     Another patient, who was admitted later in the day, was possibly the cutest little girl I had ever seen. A few months ago, she was told that she has diabetes. So her parents and she were still getting used to the different eating habits and sugar control. However, that's not why she was there today. She had swallowed a marble and it got stuck in her esophagus. Her blood sugar was also very low, so she needed an IV out in. However, if the girl would've gotten scared while Maria was putting in the IV, the girl would have either thrown up and the marble would've come with it, or she would've inhaled and the marble could've gone farther down and into her lungs. So before we did anything, the doctor decided she wanted to have another x-ray taken to see if the marble had moved at all. It was a great call by the doctor because while Maria and I were preparing OR admittance papers, the x-ray came through and showed that the girl had completely swallowed the marble and it went all the way down into her stomach. Now, instead of needing surgery to remove the marble, she can go home and carry on with her day while waiting for the marble to pass. It was a perfect ending to a very exciting and rewarding day.