Tonight we had dinner with very good friend of S, S. I wish I hadn’t started all this initial only stuff as I’m starting to confuse myself.
Anyways, S is a nurse at one of the large public hospitals in Sydney and she spent the evening regaling us with tales of sleazy doctors, crazy families, stupid interns, near misses, close calls and all the other stuff that makes up a typical episode of ER…
The stories were fascinating, but the timing wasn’t always so hot — being told of a patient who has had their oesaphagus removed while I was midway through a diced up chicken kebab had me politely pushing my plate to the side — but I also learned a lot.
By the end of the stories I’d pretty much convinced myself that anything more than a paper-cut woud have me exporting myself to Phnom Penh for treatment, and I asked her, would she be comfortable being treated in her hospital for a serious injury or issue?
“Of course I’d be comfortable” she replied…
“As long as it was before January 15 when the interns start”