A patient came in with urinary retention. He was a man in his 50s with advanced cancer, which was probably the cause of the retention.
Normally, in cases like this, the bladder is drained with a urinary catheter. After several painful attempts, however, no catheter could be passed.
The doctor came out and told the patient and his wife that this was basically it—that nothing more could be done, that he was going to shut down and d*e from the urinary retention. The patient had already accepted his fate, and his wife started crying.
The doctor then went into the break room and discussed the case with another doctor. The second doctor immediately gave her a "what the f**k?" look and told her they could perform a suprapubic cystostomy (basically inserting the cathether by puncturing the abdominal wall).
The original doctor went back to the patient and, within five minutes of telling him he was essentially a d**d man walking, said everything was fine and that they were going to get the urine out after all.
This wasn't her only s***w-up, of course (I've seen her letting pulmonary embolisms wait for HOURS), but this is the one that has stayed with me the most, because... what the f**k?
To top it all off, she was incredibly self-important, which I suspect heavily influenced the way she practiced medicine.
And I was supposed to learn from this doctor. I still get angry just thinking about it.
Normally, in cases like this, the bladder is drained with a urinary catheter. After several painful attempts, however, no catheter could be passed.
The doctor came out and told the patient and his wife that this was basically it—that nothing more could be done, that he was going to shut down and d*e from the urinary retention. The patient had already accepted his fate, and his wife started crying.
The doctor then went into the break room and discussed the case with another doctor. The second doctor immediately gave her a "what the f**k?" look and told her they could perform a suprapubic cystostomy (basically inserting the cathether by puncturing the abdominal wall).
The original doctor went back to the patient and, within five minutes of telling him he was essentially a d**d man walking, said everything was fine and that they were going to get the urine out after all.
This wasn't her only s***w-up, of course (I've seen her letting pulmonary embolisms wait for HOURS), but this is the one that has stayed with me the most, because... what the f**k?
To top it all off, she was incredibly self-important, which I suspect heavily influenced the way she practiced medicine.
And I was supposed to learn from this doctor. I still get angry just thinking about it.