Loooooooong days

Today was quite interesting, but that could be connotedly because my hours today were totaling OVER 14. And right now, as I type up this little diddy for ya, my head is pounding out a rhythm of 14 hours worth of complaints and symptoms. It started out with me walking through the hospital door at 6:40am to make it to my early morning procedure. A patient of ours, admitted two days ago, was due for a GI study and with a little coaxing, I was able to talk the surgeon into letting me help. So at 7am, I stepped up to the plate to help with my first esophagogastroduodenoscopy.

The procedure went without complications while at the same time, Dr Jones asked me question after question about GI bleed, occult bleeding, hemoptysis and hematochezia. Shortly after 7:45 I was done and on the 3rd floor making rounds with our other 5 patients in-house. 9am I reported for duty at the clinic and was there until 5:30 seeing patient after patient. A good thing about Wednesdays are however, they're pharm rep lunch days; and so for 20 minutes I get to sit in the office and enjoy a free lunch from The Mason Jar while Susan talked about the new advancements in Januvia (there ya go Susan, a plug for you to show free lunches work ;) Six o'clock, I shifted scenes to the hospital to write my discharge summary on Mrs. 303A, my progress notes on Mr. 313A and Mrs. 314A, and my SOAP note on Mrs. 307B. Dr. Sams made her way over around 7:45 and within the next hour, we were done and heading out the front door. It was a great day though...........a good day really.........a long day actually; and at about 7ish, when I was checking labs and waiting on my Attending, I started to feel the long day weigh down on my eye lids. These 10 and 12 hour days are tough, and I can imagine that the next 5 years are going to be just as long and trying; but I'm looking forward to the payoff, the enjoyment, and the gratification.