all i want for christmas it some tripple therapy

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On christmas day we walked into a packed full trauma casualty. Instead of going to morning rounds, and without discussion between us, we began to see patients who were waiting.



It was a crap morning but at least it seemed that some things were in our favor, like the suturing kits that usualy are in short supply, meaning patients have to sit arround with their faces hanging open, were in steady supply.



My mistake occured while suturing a man who had deep lacerations across his face, after re-anethetising the last layer of the wound i turned to put the needle back on my tray and pricked myself in the finger. At this point we had been working strait for 9 hours. I told an intern who I was working with and she asked if the man knew his status. I asked him and he knew that he was HIV+.



I followed everyones directions and went down to the medical ward to find the on call registrar. PEP is most effective in the first hour. After getting there, the nursing staff could not tell me where to find the doctors. One nurse directed me to a common room where there was loud music and lost of smoke from the nurses christmas lunch. I yelled over the music had anyone seen one of the doctors and they said no (I later found out that the doctors were sitting in another room through a door behind the dancers), I walked out slaming the door hard. I was eventualy directed to a nurse who knew exactly what to do and within 30 mins I had taken my first dose of combivir. I then sat down with the medical registrar who started my file.



He talked alot about hollow bore vs solid needles and other drawl. The one thing i remember is when he wrote and said aloud "high risk exposure". (after discussion with the consultant i did not have high risk exposure).

Due to the christmas holiday i could not get the tripple therepy which makes the treatment more effective. I left the hospital with the plan to go pharmacy by farmacy to the city hoping to find one open. Thankfuly when i got to our house, Andrew Yap our third housemate had the drug that he had braught from Australia and generously gave it to me.



So then I was all set, i went back to the trauma casualy and continued to work. Most of that night involved lying on the legs of a man who was under sedated to stop him standing on the bed and falling off head first for a second time.



Then the nausia kicked in, it feels like someone has macerated my guts and put them back in the wrong order. There is also a strong metalic, accidic tast always in my mouth, made worce by toothpase incidentaly. Then there is headaches and diarrhea. But nothing can beat the nausia.

Hopefuly I can get a handle on this before new york, otherwise what an extravagant waste of money.

I also have to start saving some coin again because my friend amelia is going to be in borneo alot longer than i thaught and i had better pay her a visit.



XX

Mr Nobody

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