Tuesday, August 10, 2004
On call
I'm currently stuck at the hospital on call right now. Sucks because I would be getting to the soccer field right about now for the weekly scrimmage, which has turned out to be a monster of a gathering the past couple of weeks. And considering what fills up my time lately, soccer is the one thing that I truly look forward to.
I'm doing floor work for the pediatric hematology/oncology service right now. It consists mostly of A) kids with sickle cell coming in with pain, and B) oncology kids coming in for their chemotherapy or for a fever. It's a tough floor to work on. Not because of the work itself. The protocol for these kids are pretty straight-forward. It's realizing how difficult it is for children to be dealing with such potentially devestating diseases. And through nothing they have done. Sometimes, with older adult patients, I rationalize that some disease processes were brought on by their own work--pancreatitis from alcohol, lung cancer from smoking, hepatitis from injecting drugs. It may not be true nor fair, but rationalizing in this way makes it easier to deal with.
This type of rationalization isn't applicable for children. Especially not with the little ones. What is amazing is how they all seem very upbeat despite their condition. Perhaps it is because they don't realize the severity of what they have. Or maybe all they've known is having their disease so they don't realize what it is to not have their disease. In any case, it's an admirable thing to see their cheeriness and positivity despite their condition. It's part of the beauty of the innocence of childhood. It's one of the reasons why I went into pediatrics.
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I'm doing floor work for the pediatric hematology/oncology service right now. It consists mostly of A) kids with sickle cell coming in with pain, and B) oncology kids coming in for their chemotherapy or for a fever. It's a tough floor to work on. Not because of the work itself. The protocol for these kids are pretty straight-forward. It's realizing how difficult it is for children to be dealing with such potentially devestating diseases. And through nothing they have done. Sometimes, with older adult patients, I rationalize that some disease processes were brought on by their own work--pancreatitis from alcohol, lung cancer from smoking, hepatitis from injecting drugs. It may not be true nor fair, but rationalizing in this way makes it easier to deal with.
This type of rationalization isn't applicable for children. Especially not with the little ones. What is amazing is how they all seem very upbeat despite their condition. Perhaps it is because they don't realize the severity of what they have. Or maybe all they've known is having their disease so they don't realize what it is to not have their disease. In any case, it's an admirable thing to see their cheeriness and positivity despite their condition. It's part of the beauty of the innocence of childhood. It's one of the reasons why I went into pediatrics.
