Most Scary

I am on call again today and had a quick break in the day to come home for lunch, a rare treat. I am hoping for a particularly quiet night as I am feeling quite run down and tired.

Medicine can at times be quite scary. Whether you are facing an aggressive patient who wants to turn you into mince meat or are doing a procedure that you haven't been trained to do, but are winging it, to try and save a life, things are definitely scary!

A few weeks ago, whilst I was on call, I was summoned to the ward at 3am. A patient had miscarried at 4 months and the fetus needs to be examined by a doctor. I went up to the ward and found a little package waiting for me in the sluice room. This is the part that I hate. A baby at this gestation, is fully formed, but looks like a little alien. I unwrapped the plastic and something moved in my hands. I shrieked loudly and one of the nurses came running to see what was the matter.

NURSE: Doctor are you OK?

LITTLE MISS MEDIC: Yes but the baby moved.

NURSE: Ha, ha Doctor. You are funny! It can't move, it is dead!

LMM: But I swear I felt it touch my arm.

After much convincing and hand holding the nurse finally examined the fetus with me. Its little limp arm had flopped over and that was what I had been so afraid of. It was a perfectly formed baby girl, with the cutest little fingers and toes. So sad. I weighed it and documented all my findings.

I wrapped it up again and took it with me to Labour Ward to deposit it in the chest freezer. This freezer looks like a normal freezer that you would keep extra meat in, perfectly harmless. I lifted the lid and pulled back a paper covering...



AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!



Lying underneath the covering where 4 little frozen babies. Just lying there. In a row.  Definitely the freakiest way to keep the fetuses. I mean c'mon. Wrap them up. In dark plastic. Or something. That is horror film material right there!

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A week later I was on call again and could not prevent myself from having another peek in the freezer...

There were only frozen placentas this time, not so exciting!

This is now my favourite trick to play on the medical students...hee hee.


Let's hope no mini corpses tonight!!!



LMM

xoxo

Most...

When meeting non medical people at say, a dinner party, the same question always pops up. What is the worst thing you have ever seen? or What is the most hectic? or the Grossest?

I have decided to do a series of "The Most..." and hopefully it satisfies your curiosity.

Today:

Most Gross Thing...

I have seen a lot of disgusting things. From pus coming out of every place imaginable, to limbs literally hanging on by a thread. Medicine is also full of weird and wonderful smells, warm placenta being right up there with gangrenous digits. I have quite a strong stomach; I can plan my next meal whilst operating, and enjoy a sandwich whilst in the labour ward. But hands down the grossest thing, the thing that makes me mock charge, or even vomit just a little bit in my mouth has to be The Diabetic Foot. 

This belongs to a diabetic patient with poor sugar control. Basically their foot becomes rotten and putrid and often requires amputation. You can smell the patient even before entering a ward. They usually come into the hospital with a checkers packet tied around their offending limb, and you just know what is awaiting you under the wrap of plastic. The absolutely cherry on top, and the gag factor for me is... MAGGOTS! Yip, they often have maggots in the wound. The maggots actually make the wound cleaner as they eat all the dead tissue and leave the tissue that is viable behind.

Warning! If you have a weak stomach, do not scroll down!

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And now imagine the smell!

LMM

xoxo