Chip on my shoulder

"Hi sir, welcome to the emergency room at ____, my name is S and I'd like to know what brings you here today?"
"Well, I've got this pain in my tooth here." He winced as he pointed. So did I, in sympathy.
"That looks pretty painful- what happened?"
"I was eatin' potato chips and one of them got stuck. I can still feel it even." He winced again. So did I, but not in sympathy.
"On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt, what are you feeling now?"
"It is better than it was when it first happened, so it's like a 4 now. But earlier it was a 10."
"I see... Have a seat, a nurse will talk to you soon."
"Ok... can I get anything for the pain, ma'am? They wouldn't give me anything in the ambulance."
"I think the nurse will see you really soon, so I'd wait for her opinion."
"Oh, ok."

She had heard the exchange, gave me a look, and threw him unceremoniously into the pile of charts to go to urgent care and he was discharged 5 minutes later.




But really- calling an ambulance for a potato-chip induced dental pain? Really??
S

Family Problems

An 18 year old man was rushed into my trauma room- a bullet had gone into his back. As the physicians were crowded around, arguing with each other about the best course of action, he said quietly to me at his side, I feel it right here. There was no exit wound- there was a bullet still inside.

I put a hand over his and felt the sharp point of the bullet barely protruding from his right chest/abdomen.  "Hey, he says he feels it right over here." The doctors looked up and started moving the ultrasound probe near the bullet.

"Hey, I'm really uncomfortable, can I lie on my side?" Absolutely not, the doctors replied. And the young boy laid sulkily in the chaos, feeling unheard.  "It's because the bullet went so close to your spine. If you move, you might be paralyzed," I whispered in his ear. He nodded. He understood.

"Where were you when this happened?"
"At my grandmother's funeral."
Shot at a funeral... Really??
I had seen the new tattoo on his young neck- RIP Grandma- "Is that the tattoo on your neck?"
"No, it's the other one. And I don't want to talk about it."

Things were moving so quickly because he had to be transferred to the operating room immediately, but I couldn't help but feel for the young man- so young, with so many family problems, a bullet in his chest and nobody able to answer his basic questions.

S