Rhodes General

Chapter 2

"Dr. Zanetti!"

"Hello Natalie. Or should I say Dr. Roman?"

"Natalie is perfectly fine. I'm so sorry that I haven't officially come to see you, but I instantly got thrown into everything. "

"I heard. I'm impressed at how quickly you adapted into your new role. You even managed to get Dr. Connor to notice you enough to ask for your supervisory attending and he never cares enough to do that."

"I was just doing my job."

"That's good. Well, I now have even better news for you. Dr. Connor is now your new supervisory attending." What?!

"Did I do something wrong Dr. Zanetti?"

"No. Quite the contrary actually. Dr. Connor and I believe that you would do better under his watchful eye. My doors are always open to you of course. Give it a try and if you end up not liking the thrill, then you're welcome to come back. So, do you accept?" How could I possibly say no to that?

"Of course. I'm happy to work with Dr. Connor"

"Wonderful. Now, he needs you in his office." I nodded and made my way to the office. As usual, he was seated and casually working on his laptop.

"Dr. Zanetti said you needed me?"

"Sit." I sat down across him and he dropped three large files in front of me. "Each file contains a patient profile. Every necessary test result has been carried out. Now, your job is to go through these files, make a diagnosis and spot the mistakes in the file." Seriously?! I'm just too tired to do this!

"Ok." I started packing the files so I could go and get started on them but nope!

"Where do you think you're going to?"

"Somewhere where I can focus on the files."

"Return to your seat and get it done here. I won't interfere with what you're doing. But these files, are going to get done here. And now." I didn't argue. I couldn't. He was my new supervisory attending. I had to work under him until he determined that I'm accustomed to how things are done here enough to work on my own. So, I returned to the chair and I got started.

"I need a notepad and a pen." He checked one of his table drawers and brought out a notepad and a pen. Each case was unique. I read through each file and it was so easy! I spotted each mistake and made a diagnosis in no time. It actually took about an hour or two to finish it up. "Case 1. The patient was diagnosed with Bell's palsy simply because she showed every single symptom. But I believe that the patient in case 1 has an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the parotid. It's a common mistake but not all palsies are Bell's." He closed that file and watched me carefully as I got started on the second file.

"Case 2. For the ischemia gotten from the accidental epinephrine injection, patient should have been treated with phentolamine instead of nitroglycerin. They both work for the case but based on the patient's profile, the phentolamine would've worked better." His face was just blank. No emotions.

"Case 3. The patient should have been given morphine 3 mg IV and not morphine 5 mg IV. That was an unnecessary and deadly mistake." I waited for him to say something but then, he just continued what he was doing.

"Fair enough." Fair enough?! That wasn't fair, it was impressive! I just handled three cases in an hour! "Now, go and get the results of the CT scan and meet me in our patient's room." I nodded quietly and left. He was so rude! Dr. Zanetti would've probably been impressed but not him! On my way to the get the test results, I ran into Isabel.

"Hey!" Why is she so happy?! My day has been crazy but she's happy!

"Hi. What's going on?"

"I actually just got my first patient!" I'm actually starting to think that this is the first serious hospital she has worked at! Because nobody should be this excited.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! What about you?"

"I was actually about to get the CT scan for my patient." We walked to the desk and got the scan results. We looked through it together and I finally saw what the actually issue was! I bet he would be impressed now!

"Wow! That's not good."

"Yeah, I know. Look, I have to meet Dr. Connor in the patient's room but I'll see you later." I dashed off to the room where Dr. Connor was engaging in a conversation with the patient. He was so nice and natural with him. He was laughing and smiling but all that changed the moment he noticed me. He got up, collected the scan from my hands and looked through them. He then pulled me outside the room and closed the door so the patient couldn't hear us.

"So, Dr. Roman, what do you see?" Why does he always put me on the spot?!

"Well, the SMV thrombus is extending to the splenic/ portal vein confluence and the intrahepatic portal veins. Also, there's mild mesenteric fat stranding secondary to edema. There are no signs of infarction or haemorrhage, but due to the possibility of disease progression, I believe that we should admit him."

"True. Let's give him a dose of enoxaparin and then let April know about our latest patient. Also, let's give him some ciprofloxacin and metronidazole via IV for antibiotic prophylaxis."

"Yes doctor." As usual, I did as I was told. My workload kept on increasing. I dealt with more emergency room cases with Dr. Connor and when I finally had enough time to catch a break, it was already 6pm! How on earth did time fly?! I still had 4 hours before my shift was up but I was drained. I had not eaten all day and I was starving! I got a cup of coffee from the cafeteria and I went to the break room. Shane was taking a nap and I tried not to wake him but oops!

"I'm sorry." I said nicely as he sat up.

"It's fine. I managed to get 15 minutes of sleep, that's way more than other doctors get in a day. How are you holding up? I hear Dr. Connor is really something." He said laughing.

"You have no idea. This is literally the only break I've had all day. And that's because he's performing a surgery right now. It's been so exhausting."

"I can imagine. My supervisory attending basically handed each of us patient files and told us to make a diagnosis before our shift is up or we shouldn't bother coming in tomorrow."

"Yikes! That must be rough. So how's that going for you?"

"Not bad. I've listed some possible causes but I'm waiting on my ultrasound results to make a positive diagnosis."

"Ah." I sipped my coffee and laid on one of the lower bunk beds.

"You know, maybe you should try to get a little sleep before Dr. Connor gets out of surgery."

"Yeah." I closed my eyes and just when I started to drift away, my pager went off. I sat up with my face in my hands.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I gulped down the warm, tasteless coffee and left Shane in the room. It was my patient but when I got there, he was perfectly fine! It was just Dr. Connor.

"I've given him some propranolol for the variceal prophylaxis." He said to me when I entered the room. He then turned to the patient with a smile. "You'll be free to go tomorrow but, you'd still feel some mild abdominal tenderness but that would leave with time. You'll also be placed on a 6-month course of rivaroxaban therapy. We'll set a coagulopathy testing date for you after you finish your anticoagulation treatment. Please make sure you attend your follow up appointments."

"I will Dr.Connor, thank you. Both of you."

"We're just glad we could help." I said nicely as we left the room.

"I don't say this regularly and especially not to new attendings but...you did good today." Wait, was that an actual compliment?! He continued walking to his office, leaving standing there with shock all over my face. I don't even need a supervisor! This hospital basically BEGGED me to join them from Washington General. I am the second youngest Cardiothoracic surgeon to get the Mask Awards! That is one the most prestigious award in my field! But I am working under the youngest person to get the award, so I probably have a fee things to learn from him.

I'll come here everyday, I'll do my job and tend to my patients, but that's it. Dealing with Connor outside of all this drama is not just going to happen.