During this past week, I primarily spent my time in the CCU, reading about MRI, and attending meetings.
Monday morning in the CCU was lively. Rounds were longer than usual, as a new attending was taking over. Additionally, a critical situation arose-- one patient, upon completing a MRI, was being transported back to the CCU when he started to bite on his airway tube. This quickly escalated into a situation with most of the residents actively managing the patient during rounds. Fortunately, with the addition of IV medication, the patient stabilized.
On the previous Friday, in the CCU, a critical situation emerged in which a patient told her physical therapist that if she was not released by the following day she would hurt herself. This patient is non-English-speaking and had been in the hospital for a substantial amount of time--however, given her condition, discharging her would mean certain death. What made this situation especially challenging was the need to communicate between the attending and patient via a certified medical translator over the phone. Consequently, on Monday, when rounding, it was heartwarming to see the patient alive and visibly improving (sitting upright, talking with family), with our discussion focusing on to where she should be discharged.
Discussing the case with the residents later, I learned that depression is very common among CCU patient (even after discharge), and that many of them are prescribed SSRIs while in the hospital. Yet another reminder that mental and physical health are linked...
On Friday, I had a very fruitful meeting with Dr. Divya Gupta, a gynecologic oncologist, about collaborating on research with my lab in Ithaca (the Kirby Research Group). She was able to provide clinical insight regarding ovarian cancer and we discussed ways to use circulating tumor cell capture to improve early detection of ovarian cancer. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I will be shadowing her as well.
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