The conversation was not one I was unfamiliar with. Discussing a serious diagnosis, a worrying test result, or a life...
Clinician Stories
Regretfully falling between the cracks.
I first met Karen in 2018. She came in to consult about a possible chest infection, and I went on to discover...
Remarking on the igglepiggle moments
Eight years ago I wrote about the ‘Igglepiggle moments’ of my clinical practice. The quick fixes in paediatric ED that...
Re-filling the tank
I’m on count down. Annual leave minus 10 days. If all goes to plan (no local lockdown!) I’ll be going away; an escape to the country, to the coast; a relatively unpopulated area that I’ve spent a couple of weeks exploring most summers for the last few years. A...
Recalculating the cost of lockdown
My job is not any easier. There was talk that when the lockdown ended A&E would not go back to how it used to be. We had hoped it would be less manic, with an increase in staffing levels, enabling us to provide better and more timely care. The preceding...
The Covid Diaries 11
Saturday 13th June 2020 : Reality Check This week I’d quite like to get off the rollercoaster we’ve all been travelling over the last 16 weeks. I’ve had enough. I feel like my positivity has run out, the flame of hope extinguished, my ability to keep going faded away....
Re-living harrowing moments
The guttural howl could be heard at the other end of the corridor. It went on and on, uncontrollable, penetrating the core of all who heard it. Inside the room the noise was suffocating. There was barely any space anyway, an extended family packed into an area far too...
Reconstructing a different life 4
Part 4: Resumption My parents in law had decided that my wife, son and I deserved a holiday. They were taking us to Portugal for a fortnight in September. I was delighted - something to look forward to. I was reliant on the wheel chair or crutches but I had built up...
Reconstructing a different life 3
Part 3: The garden That evening I was taken back to theatre to have an external fixator fitted to the femur. The healing process had to start again. Fortunately the left leg fractures were healing well. I was now well enough to eat. I was getting more used to...
Reconstructing a different life 2
Part 2: Terrified I was ventilated for 10 days. My first recollection after my “near death experience” was post extubation. I remember seeing my wife and mother in law and saying, “Hello mum. What are you doing here?” The next few days blur into one partly because I...
Reconstructing a different life 1
Part 1: a moment in time In March 1987 my life changed forever, one morning on my way to work. Everything that happened before that day is now categorised in my mind as “before accident.” Statistically I should never have survived, and I certainly never...
Re-naming: who are we?
"What's in a name? That which we call a roseby any other name would smell as sweet." Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) I don’t know about you, but nowadays I am rubbish at remembering names. My neurosis reaches a critical point when at social gatherings I am expected to...