Ho. Ly. Cow

What a day! I got to work at 7:45 and didn't sit down again until 11:45. Even then, it was just a short break between patients. I didn't eat lunch until 12:30. Every appointment slot was filled -- and not with simple issues.

There was a boy who cut his finger with a knife; no stitches needed but the doctor decided to order a Tdap since he hadn't had a tetanus shot since kindergarten. Then I realized that he was behind on 3 other injections and, of course, his mother wanted him to get all of them today.

We had two kids with bad infections who couldn't tolerate oral antibiotics so they had to have Rocephin injections. Rocephin is a pain in the neck. It comes in powder form and is reconstituted with Lidocaine. It is the consistency of maple syrup and, even with the Lidocaine, hurts a lot. It's not uncommon for patients to have large bruises the next day. Because of the large volume usually ordered, it's divided into two injections. We usually get two nurses to give both shots at the same time since it hurts so much. Afterward, the patient has to wait in the office for at least 10 minutes to be sure there isn't a bad reaction to it. And I did that twice.

I administered 3 nebulized breathing treatments, 2 of which were done with oxygen. I did 2 flu tests, an RSV test, and half a dozen strep tests.

In addition to all of that, we had 3 well care visits with their necessary immunizations, weight checks and developmental questionnaires. One stressed, exhausted new mother had forgotten to bring her baby's formula with her. The baby was hungry and the mom was near tears. Fortunately, we had bottles with ready to feed formula. A baby peed on a scale. Another baby pooped on an exam table. Three separate times, children with appointments also had ill siblings and we managed to squeeze them in, too.

I was dead on my feet by lunch time. I'm so glad the day is over.