America's Most Wanted

One of our patients in the SICU is a prisoner who came to the hospital with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. His surgery was last week and he is recovering well other than having some difficulties getting his bowels to work normally again. His arms and legs are shackled to the bed, and men with guns frequently come to make sure he hasn't escaped. Last night one of the other residents was in his room doing a bedside procedure. She looked up at his TV and realized he was intently watching America's Most Wanted. Quite ironic.

Last night a young man was brought to the hospital after falling 40 feet from an overpass on his motorcycle. His injuries included a head bleed, a nasty pelvic fracture, and renal and liver lacerations resulting in intra-abdominal bleeding. He was the second person who was brought in yesterday after a motorcycle accident. Any illusions I had of wanting to buy a motorcycle some day are long gone.

Over the past 3 weeks we have had 4 different patients who have fallen from ladders or trees. All of them have been older men, and two of them were picking apricots when they fell. Unfortunately, they all suffered broken ribs and have had protracted hospital stays. Please old men, stay out of the trees.