Apinun!

Afternoon dragged on and on and on, although I was so busy I was surprised when we got out at nearly 6 PM. Had to send a few folks away, because early in the afternoon the water pump to the hospital cut out completely, meaning that there was no X-ray (no water to develop films). Also, nothing to wash speculums with, so glad I had plenty. I had a bottle of hand sanitizer in my room, at least, although with the number of pelvic exams I did for PID today who knows if that was adequate.
Learned how to use the ultrasound to find tubo-ovarian abscesses and evaluate kidneys. Went looking for ectopic pregnancies and didn't find any. Got asked to help out on an ultrasound or two, very reassuring. Today was, apparently, pelvic pain day - and so we did plenty of ultrasounds.

Last patient of the day was a charming old lady who'd had three days of black tarry stools. She had a hemoglobin of 11, but hadn't eaten in three days and had a pulse of 110 and a blood pressure of 90/60. And it just so happens that Steve the visiting surgeon does lots of colonoscopies, so he's going to scope her tomorrow. We're having a great time, and he's a lot of fun to talk to.

My travel pack for medical missions now includes the following: Harriet Lane, Sanford Guide, Tarascon pharmacopeia, the Travel and Tropical Medicine pocket books I have (after reading the section on Pigbel I feel much better informed), and the cute little finger-pulseox sensors that Erin has (portable and very nice). Also, a stethoscope.

Tomorrow I move to B ward - OB. We'll see how they do things there, and whether my MFM/NICU experience will serve me well or ill.