Reading List

On call again today (my last one!) So far we've only had three cases: (1) a man who took an enema as part of a "spiritual cleansing" at his church a few days ago and continues to have nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea--which you might think is just related to the enema, but turns out he is also jaundiced (skin turns yellow...often tough tell in black people but you can usually tell based on a yellowish color in their eyes or beneath the tongue), (2) an HIV-positive guy with confusion who we just LP'ed, and (3) a dude with a past history of a subarachnoid hemorrhage (a type of brain bleed) who presents with headache and vomiting which is very concerning for another SAH. Unfortunately he has ABSCONDED...the all-too-commonly used word here for patients who have flown the coop without our permission or knowledge.

Having a markedly improved work schedule compared to at home (on days that I'm not on call I usually get home at about 4-5pm, with no other responsibilities once I get there), I've had the opportunity to do much more pleasure reading than I normally get to do! Here's the list so far:

#1: Wicked--funny novel describing the life of the Wicked Witch of the West (of Wizard of Oz fame). It makes her into a very sympathetic character and describes the course of events which turns her into the evil witch we all know from the movie. Very amusing.

#2: Love Me, by Garrison Keillor--made me feel not too far away from my Minnesota home by reading, even half-way across the world...

#3: Know it All, by A.J. Jacobs--non-fiction book about a guy who decides he's going to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica. Each chapter is a different letter--for example, "A", "B", etc--during which the author describes interesting factoids or lessons he's learned in that particular volume which can applied to his everyday life. A little bit of a slog to get through it but a great idea.

#4: Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver--started slow but now I'm really into it. It's the story of a missionary family with 4 young girls who travel to the heart of the Congo, in a disastrous attempt to convert an entire village to Christianity.