Trouble with expectations

Why do I even bother? I make all these fabulous plans for my post call day, and fate always intervenes. Since you haven't heard from me since Wednesday, you can assume life has not been normal. My transplant Wednesday night actually went fairly well. We finished by 1 am so I foolishly thought - I'm going to get a couple of hours of sleep. I tucked him into the unit, made some quick rounds on the floor and was heading to the call room.

Didn't even make it past the door when I got called for a consult to the MICU. Can I just go on record as to how much I hate the MICU. For some reason, to work in the MICU you have to forget everything that you ever learned in medical school, and spend all of your time trying to figure out how to get surgery involved in your patient's care. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, I am usually protected, but not always. The incredibly frustrating part is that it was a ridiculous consult. I spent one hour trying to nicely explain to the intern, resident, fellow and ultimately attending why it was a ridiculous consult. At 3:30, as I saw my chances of sleep slipping away I became progressively less nice. I don't think I actually called the attending stupid to his face, but I did imply that he had no knowledge about that to which he was speaking.

I finally convinced them that I probably understood ECMO better than they and let the MICU. This time I actually made it into the call room, and had actually crawled into bed. I hadn't quite closed my eyes when my phone went off again. Type A aortic dissection being flow directly to the operating room. Needless to say that sucked up the rest of my night, and a good portion of my morning.

When I finally walked into my house Thursday, I crashed straight into bed. I didn't even shower first which I never do, but I was afraid I would fall asleep in the shower. I woke up briefly for an early dinner, and then fell right back asleep. I accomplished absolutely nothing on my list - not one single thing. Friday after work I ran to the grocery store. My plan was oil change on Saturday and grooming on Sunday. I made it to my car on Saturday, but unfortunately not much further. The President-elect was in town, and traffic was a nightmare. I grew frustrated and went back home. Sunday there was snow on the ground so I decided I could live with my unibrow for a little longer.

If you are keeping track - 1 for 7.