Memoir of an intern doctor….day 56
Maternal deaths scream louder than any other kind of deaths in Medicine, Very loud. And you never want this death to happen at your watch. Because even when you do everything to save this mother, somehow every finger always points back at you.
I survived one yesterday. I was by the side of this patient for 6 straight hours yesterday. And she just got worse regardless of how much we did. I had informed my seniors and they arrived in time .
Not to discuss the case here, but every other second, this patient worsened and she was later sent to ICU for monitoring. I was called 20minutes after I stepped out to find another (third) unit of fresh blood. PS; we don’t have compatible blood donors walking around daily. If I were compatible, maybe I’d have donated a unit of blood for her. But I wasn’t.
Somehow I managed to secure another unit of fresh blood (blood meant for someone else on another ward) within 20 minutes of that call and I arrived in ICU with it. The first scene I saw almost sent me to her state. CPR was being done on my patient. She had crashed. Somehow, after a few cycles of CPR , we got a heart rate and supported her breathing on a vent.
Checking on her this morning, the prognosis was poor . I had counselled the husband about the prognosis, and he was ready for what nature decided.
I went back to check on her at 2pm, she was talking. She recognised me and held my hand😖😖😖. I have never been so happy to see a patient recover like I was today.
Isn’t God good? 😊