Today was our busiest day yet, since two out of the four doctors were out of the office. In total, we saw over 30 patients (for comparison, we only had 18 on Friday). Because the schedule was so full, we were moving from appointment to appointment with hardly any time in between. There weren’t too many particularly salient cases that stood out to me except for an operation that I watched two nurses perform. A nine-month-old girl had come in for a sick visit, and Dr. Villareal suspected that she might have a urinary tract infection. However, because there was no way to get her to pee into a cup for a urine test, the nurses had to use a catheter. Honestly, it was kind of horrifying to watch — her mother had to pin down her arms while one nurse held her legs and another nurse numbed her and inserted the tube. On top of that, it took multiple tries to properly insert the tube, and the baby was crying and screaming the entire time. The nurses finally succeeded, but overall it was very uncomfortable to watch; however, I’m glad I did so I could experience the procedure. The poor girl also had to get her blood drawn (sample results included in pic).
Other than that, there were just a lot of well and sick checks. I think at least half of the sick visits ended in a strep test, with a couple being positive. We also saw a few newborns — seven days old and four days old — and I learned that babies actually lose weight in the first few days after they’re born because of fluid from the womb.
Lastly, there were a few more cases of troublesome parents/patients (nothing new there). There was one mother who insisted on seeing a neurologist for her son’s panic attacks, even though all the doctors and nurses had tried to tell her that a psychiatrist would be much more appropriate. She tried to call the neurologist herself, and lo and behold, they refused to see her. She then approached the pediatric office again, only to be refused again. There was also a 17-year-old patient who had suddenly requested to switch from pills to liquid after seven years of taking the same medication. (Dr. Villareal was certain it was because he wanted to do something malicious or abuse the drugs.) It showed once again the difficulties that doctors have to deal with on top of the already challenging process of checkup and diagnosis. I’m excited for the rest of my time here!
