Hot and happy

That pretty well sums up the morning. The 7:00 AM conference featured a presentation by a visiting MD on surgical transplants. It seemed to me like an unlikely topic in a place that does not do them, but it was quite interesting and garnered a number of questions from the staff. The speaker gave a history of transplantation reminding us that the first step in the process was actually blood transfusions. Hospital Albert Schweitzer does, of course, do blood transfusions, so this was a very good way to make the connection to a topic that might otherwise seem far removed. From conference we moved to morning rounds, then to the Physical Therapy Department to see patients. I was most happy to be assigned the task of mentoring 3 of the Techs on the treatment of 3 different stroke patients. This was an excellent follow-up to the Saturday seminar, and exactly the patient population that I enjoy working with the most. I was definitely hot and happy. I lingered so long with 2 of the patients that the Techs fell a little behind in the morning schedule. So the Director asked me to see one of her patients as the place was overflowing with people. It was a very interesting case that I can best describe as antalgic posture due to an external injury to the hip when a wall fell on the patient. She came in via wheelchair leaning far to one side on the uninjured hip. After some strong words from the Physical Therapy Director, a little exercise and some coaching, she eventually walked out on crutches. I'm not quite sure that is quite what the patient expected to happen this morning in Physical Therapy, but it was a good outcome. The afternoon was more mellow and slow and featured a wonderful tropical rainstorm that ended and has now started up again. Perfect for sleeping which I will undertake quite soon. Good night!