They say* That clinical error is like Swiss Cheese; You line-up the holes, twist and turn through happenstance and bad luck and eventually If you are lucky You survive. And, if you’re not, the allergy is missed and the check and the dispense and the doctor and the nurse and the pharmacist are allContinue reading “Swiss Cheese”
Monthly Archives: February 2018
White
White, Cold, Snow angel. Love;
Memory
It’s odd. Wendy Mitchell began writing her blog to help her remember and for the preservation of memory. I began mine out of the thought that, If I to die tomorrow, My kids would have something of me left behind.
Dr Who?
Remember, I am not English…
But… Dr Who – he’s international; the guy with the blue police-box, alien time-lord?
Instead of asking
Instead of asking What is wrong with me? Consider Instead that by asking that question in your head you are demonstrating an understanding of what is right. Therefore. What is right with me? Makes you and me feel better about ourselves and the world.
p-value
I was left, feeling, like a bit of a prat. It began with a video of Peter Mittler That I took last year During a conference. In the clip, Which no one can hear because I didn’t use the right equipment, Peter is arguing the validity of statistical significance in relation to aContinue reading “p-value”
Grand-theft Junior
Is this what we want? One overall winner with everyone else losing?
Silly hats, uniforms.
I went back to Doncaster yesterday, to take part in the Person-Centred Care training day we have been running for the past year. On this occasion, I attended as a guest speaker, which was a novelty. I also took with me some colleagues from Rotherham, so that they could get a feel for the workContinue reading “Silly hats, uniforms.”
Bully / Arse
I read in the newspaper yesterday, a short entry about bullies. The argument went, that a one-off episode of bullying doesn’t make someone a bully – the suggestion being, that anyone can lose their temper and strike-out at another, cause misery, torment. I don’t know what I think about this. What I know is, thatContinue reading “Bully / Arse”
The long-tailed tits
The long-tailed tits Move erratically. Jittering, flighty, Pecking at the peanuts. The film, running at double time, twice normal speed, constant alertness; cortisol through the roof. Good job they only survive a season or two or else They’d be on Ramipril Like, everyone else.
Daddy, what did you do?
This was a recruitment poster from WWI – designed to create a feeling of guilt in young men, chivvying them to volunteer, head-off to Flanders, Ypres or somewhere on the Western Front and, likely die. At least they wouldn’t have to face their children… ‘I stayed at home, because I didn’t want to participate inContinue reading “Daddy, what did you do?”
Son of?
Son of Saul Sonderkommando Pictures From the hip Clandestine. Alberto aka Alekos aka Alex Errera aka Michaelides Shovelling ash Into the Vistula. Trying not to inhale Too deeply.
100
Pain and Frail and Vulnerable and test after test after test and Trapped In hospital 100 years old. How many days, weeks hours left?
Shit
Shit On the pavement, Sited Strategically, Just, The right size for a child’s foot.
Temporal horns
Your horns Are, I am afraid to say, too small to be consistent with Alzheimer’s I will need to Consider An alternative diagnosis, Perhaps I can squeeze Something else out of the CT machine, Or, I need to pass you through the MRI And/or A lumbar puncture And Some serology is always worthwhile To exclude,Continue reading “Temporal horns”
Bright young things.
Bright young things, medical students clamouring to calculate. Is it A or B or C? Which principle? Infection, inflammation or infarction? Smile, Purell, Hello, my name is. Smile. /Lean-in.
Overflowing
You take a cup, smash it, pollute the river and offer constant interruptions and the result is not tranquillity or effectiveness, it is, a mess.
Why are you here?
Leaving blue-tits to one side and, getting back to my main focus… A frequent question I ask my patients, usually when trying to establish their orientation, but also to clarify their understanding of the situation, is, ‘Do you know why you are here?’ I leave the question purposefully vague – ‘here’ – where is here?Continue reading “Why are you here?”
Minor evolutionary hiccup.
I bought a bottle of full-fat Guernsey milk (in a milk-bottle shaped bottle), yesterday, and I am now sipping it, mixed in coffee. It made me think, about the blue-tits I used to see in the 70’s. The ones that learned about the lovely creaminess sitting at the top of milk bottles, on doorsteps, justContinue reading “Minor evolutionary hiccup.”
Camptocormia
everyone (I thought), knew that you write ’10 units of Insulin’ not ’10u’ which can be misread as 100 units, resulting in death or brain-damage
Generation
You might think it odd, (unless you know me, and you know that odd is my modus operandi), that only this morning, at 640 am to be precise, did it dawn on me that the age difference between my children and I is a generation. A generation is usually considered to be somewhere around 25Continue reading “Generation”
Jabotinsky
The wolf wakes as the sun sets and, the family rest before traveling home. I ask you, what was he thinking? Did he not consider discretion to be more appropriate at that moment than speaking his mind, or, perhaps, the occasion was confusing; afraid, knickers-in-a-twist. You can’t always tell. Some people. Some people just letContinue reading “Jabotinsky”
Granny, what of your dreams?
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – is the name of Philip K Dick’s novella which was most recently translated into the Blade Runner 2049 movie. My son’s Blu-Ray DVD arrived in the post this afternoon. It has been said that dreams are under attack from modernity – from our reduced and erratic sleep patterns,Continue reading “Granny, what of your dreams?”
Post-diagnostic support in dementia
I thought I would get back to my origins this morning and write a little about what I am meant to be doing as a doctor. Dementia – most of us hate the word; without mind. Bollocks. The Japanese went as far as changing the name to their version of ‘disease of cognition’ – perhapsContinue reading “Post-diagnostic support in dementia”
Three weeks. What have I learned?
It is just over three weeks since I started working in Rotherham. It has been an interesting time. There have been highs and lows. Some confusion. Soupcon of anxiety. Even, disorientation. Lesson 1 When I was younger, it was routine to change jobs every year – that was the rotation which was the core ofContinue reading “Three weeks. What have I learned?”
Scared/Scarred
Now. I said what I thought, and things went OK. Or, at least as far as I can tell.
I danced mid-week.
On Wednesday I was caught-up in some dancing. OK – it only lasted for five minutes, But, I gave it a go. I was at the B:Friend training session in Doncaster College, where I participated in some early-evening chair-based dance exercise, to the tune of the Jacksons’ Blame It On the Boogie. I haven’t dancedContinue reading “I danced mid-week.”
Shout, shout, let it all out…
Sometimes you have to shout. Ideally, While standing on a chair or table. At the top of your voice. Injustice! On other occasions, Indeed, Most of the time, We go about, We move from A to B; We slouch, Harrumph, Contemplate. Not very often we burst. I think of Tchernichovsky’s dumplings.Continue reading “Shout, shout, let it all out…”
Dr Rod’s Odd Blog (almondemotion) 