Grand Rounds

I could never be in the medical profession. I don't have the emotional strength needed.

If you want to see high drama and tragedy, as well as triumph and the exultation of the human spirit, just see the weekly medical blog compendium, Grand Rounds.

This week's is at See First.

One of the articles this week's roundup refers to is at Reality Rounds, discussing parental control over their child's care.

A 25 week infant is born. She is strong and stable on minimal ventilator settings. The mom is shy and defers all decisions to her husband. The husband wants all support stopped for his daughter. He has read outcome statistics, and does not want a handicapped child. Mom sits quietly with down cast eyes. Does not say a word.
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For the cases I mentioned that I was personally involved in, make no mistake about it, they were heart wrenching for the staff to go through. Yes, I am not those babies mother. Yet they were brought to me to help, and heal, and respect and nurture. I was at the bedside day in and day out, caring for these babies. You get to know them. Imagine caring for an infant that is suffering, when you know a 3 hour blood transfusion would cure his suffering. Imagine caring for an infant that weighs 1000 grams, is skin and bones, is gasping for air on the ventilator, and has tubes sticking out of every spot in his tiny body; and you know what you are doing is painful and futile. Imagine caring for an infant that is critical, yet thriving, and you have a father breathing down your neck to disconnect the ventilator, and yelling at you that she is not your child.

Cases like these are traumatic. How do you cope?

How do they indeed? But they do. Thank goodness.

Oh yes, there's also this:

Zoe Brain, one of the most interesting health care bloggers from Down Under, shares some of the ongoing research into brain gender identity.

Health Care Blogger, Rocket Scientist, is there nothing this woman cannot do? Well, yes. Get her 7 year old son into bed at a reasonable hour for one thing...