Swine flu, a big Measles outbreak, a patient with a bee sting in the mouth (the first time I have had to give adrenaline to a patient, and never mind the patients vital stats, I am sure mine own where off the chart while we waited for the ambulance to arrive), and of course the usual stream of patients who burst into tears and need much more than the time allotted to their appointment.
But, among the busyness I did have one very satisfying moment. A regular came in to see me, affectionately known as my "f***ing, f***ing, f***ing" patient (and that's just on the way down the corridor to my consulting room). He is a young guy but has had some adverse circumstances and is waiting for major orthopaedic surgery. But this week when he came in he looked fitter, healthier and happier than I had ever seen him before.
I asked him how things had been going. He animatedly told me that he was doing really well and that he had been aqua jogging at least 5 times per week for over a month and that he was loving it! 
He raved about how good he was feeling and the changes that he was already noticing including losing 4kg, noticing his muscles "popping" out, and his double chin shrinking. He was just as enthusiastic about the social aspects, having met a lot of fellow aqua joggers. "It's just like Shortland St, everyone gets to know ya and says hi. They are giving me stick and saying they are going to put glue and Vaseline on my crutches when I go in after the surgery". He was clearly loving it!
He raved about how good he was feeling and the changes that he was already noticing including losing 4kg, noticing his muscles "popping" out, and his double chin shrinking. He was just as enthusiastic about the social aspects, having met a lot of fellow aqua joggers. "It's just like Shortland St, everyone gets to know ya and says hi. They are giving me stick and saying they are going to put glue and Vaseline on my crutches when I go in after the surgery". He was clearly loving it!
I asked him what made him think of taking up aqua jogging. He looked at me a bit confused and said "You did. You told me I should."
O yeah, so I did. And yes I felt a little sheepish about not remembering giving him this advice.
But then I am frequently telling so many of my patients about the benefits of exercise. And I do try to give a few suggestions of exercise that would be appropriate for them. Most of the time I know my advice falls on deaf ears and I feel like a broken down record repeating the same message.
So it was such a buzz to hear that, against all odds, this tough, blue-collar, kiwi bloke had followed my advice to take up aqua jogging and that it had made a big difference in his life.
Now that's enough to keep me feeling positive about my job for at least another 6 months.
By the way, he didn't swear or complain once through the whole consultation, and that in it's self is practically a miracle.
:)
3 comments:
Wow, did you actually see measles, or just people worried about it? I've never seen measles.
As for your win with the exercise recommendation, that's f***ing awesome!
excellent! What an encouragement =D
Yes I actually saw diagnosed a case - in fact 3 out of the 5 GP's at our practice have. It is a HUGE outbreak.
The case I saw was a 17yo boy. He had only a few spots on his chest which were hard to find amongst his nasty acne. He had a temp of 37.8 and did not really look unwell. So I did not think he had but as he was from the highschool where the epidemic started (and because mum was worried), I took the swabs and serology and to my surprise it confirmed the case.
He had been fully immunised and apparently there have been some milder cases in kids who have been fully immunised.
The other 2 cases at our practice have been younger kids who were not immunised and they have been SICK.
The official total is now around 90 I think but many more are expected.
The only good thing is that the media campaign is working well and I have had quite a few parents bring their kids in for vaccines who were previously anti-MMR. And fortunately the vaccine gives cover if given within 72 hours of exposure.
In the first week we also gave lots of immunoglobulin at the health departments advice. The local day care, where I have a lot of patients, had a confirmed case early in the outbreak and I am still taking calls from concerned parents about this, in particular worried that their 3yo is having side effects of the immunoglobulin.
Hmm, long winded. But then again, not every day we see measles and so has been very interesting!
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