Thursday December 18, 2014

Today, Dr. Marrone was on call and wanted me to be on call with him.  I still did not have my license, though they were working through the channels to find the right people to sign the paper to allow me to legally work. Apparently the CMO needed to sign me off, but he was out getting a haircut and was not around.  I went to the nursery again and also the ICU.  The hospital approved funding to pay for a flight to hawaii for the baby, once he was safe to fly.  LBJ approves off island referral for Baby Mel.  Lots of drama and politics here.

There was another code - a lady who was found unresponsive.  Again, did CPR for some minutes and the lady died. 

Ate lunch at the cafeteria with the Broges.  Noah and Nolan were there, along with Neeli and Tangra.  Tangra has her own patients and works in the clinic.  Had some lamb chow mein and water for $4.  Lots of food.

That evening,  I walked down to the bottom of the hill.  There is a small supermarket owned by an asian man who speaks very little English.  I bought laundry detergent - a tiny boxy of Gain - for $4.25, dish soap, sponges, and a $5 calling card to call home from the apartment phone because I still was not able to use the internet.  I found out that day from one of the PAs who works in the ER that the hospital did not pay the wifi bill and the account was suspended. 

I walked back home and tried to use the calling card.  The menu asked me to punch in the pin number, which I did, and there was just silence.  I tried again, no luck.  I called the help line and got a very annoyed lady who told me that the number was wrong and that I needed to call a different number.  Which I did and got a very annoyed lady who told me to call another number... which I did and the number was disconnected.  Very frustrating and the card is non-refundable.

On the way back from the hospital, Dr. Marrone was notified by the janitor of a "party" up at the nursing headquarters that had some food.  We went up and there was a christmas celebration with the nursing managers - all old ladies in their 60's.  They had tons of food and made each of us three huge to-go boxes (To-Go boxes are a big thing here).  There were several traditional Samoan dishes that I was able to try - including Taro and breadfruit, both are local fruits that taste like potatoes.  There was also a dish made with coconut cream and wrapped in bannana leaves that was absolutely amazing... but extremely rich.  One of the boxes contained nothing but meat - chicken, pork, and a local turkey specialty of "turkey tail", basically the cooked fat pad from the butt of the turkey... which tastes a lot better than it sounds.   There were also several fruits.  Needless to say, I was stocked for several days.

I was called in at 2am with Dr. Marrone for a emergency cesarian section for a cord prolapse.  The mom had gestational diabetes and the baby was very big (over 9lbs).  Most babies are born LGA (large for gestational age) here.  Baby did OK and only needed mild stimulation.  

Went home and fell asleep - only to be woken up again at 6am for an admission.  Went to the ED and admitted a baby for pneumonia.  Did not go back to sleep.