The Better Part of Valor

I have not been terribly inspired to write much lately. Mighten' be because of the heavy work schedule lately. But I am trying to get back into the groove because writing helps me think and I have a lot of things to think about. I'm in the middle of a super learning rotation now. I'm seeing a heavy volume of really sick people in the hospital. And I am realizing that I am not always very astute at recognizing sickness. I am much better at recognizing health. Fortunately I have been surrounded by many, many healthy people in my life. I've lived in communities where people challenged themselves artistically, musically and academically. I know a lot of people who are very physically active and folks who have traveled to many different countries and enriched their lives with acquaintances from all over the planet. But recently I missed a guy who turned out to be quite sick. I went through the night wondering a little why this guy was admitted only to find out the next morning that he was septic. He just did not look very ill to me. Presentation clinically and his labs could have represented a viral bronchitis. CXR was unremarkable. The guy was joking and smiling. But he was sweating and that should have made more of an impression on me. I've dealt with fever more in kids than with adults and I think fever is often over treated in kids but I'm learning that fever can mean different things in adults. My nature to be non-interventionist probably contributes to my difficulty in recognizing real sickness. Fortunately there were a lot of other people besides me who looked at this guy and their suspicions were higher and riding along the better part of valor.