The cool thing about yesterday was that I saw a lot of sick kids and actually got to think and learn about diagnosis and treatment a lot. One kid came in with vomiting, diarrhea, and fever for the past 5 days for which he had been to the ER--where they told him he had a virus and sent him home with ibuprofen. He went back two days later--same thing. Two days later, he came to us, whereupon I poked around on his belly and he said it was tender. The doctor poked around on his belly and asked him to point to where it hurt the most--at which point he stuck his finger right smack in the middle of his right lower quadrant. We called the ER and told them we were sending the kid over for a CT and surgical consult for appendicitis immediately. I know he had really, really atypical findings (most kids with appendicitis have more rapid onset of symptoms, and their pain is much more localized) but christ, you'd think someone at an ER would have thought at least on the second go-round that this kid might need to get some imaging done just in case. Oy.
Yesterday was also the day of the chromosomally challenged--I saw a kid with DiGeorge Syndrome who also had Tetralogy of Fallot and a heart murmur you could hear from across the room, and another kid with Williams Syndrome. I also saw one kid whose adopted mom spent the entire time complaining about all these behavior problems he had and being pretty much the most negative person in the world--at which point we all wondered how much the kid was really acting up and how much he was just reacting to her negativity. Saw a couple of cute babies for check-ups, and got told by one of the doctors that I'm doing better than the third years and everyone loves me.
Love it when things just work out.
ETA: Today, we found out that our suspected appendicitis kid was just that--a ruptured appendix with an abscess. I may have actually contributed to the saving of a life. I may, in fact, be the coolest person on the earth right now. :-)
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