insomnia

def. repeated difficulty with the initiation, duration, maintenance, or quality of sleep that occurs despite adequate time and opportunity for sleep that results in some form of daytime impairment. (from eMedicine)

last night was one of the most toxic duties in my residency training period.

it all started out as a regular day.  i started the day at my rotation (MRI), just about our regular patient census.  as i was on duty, i assumed my duty post (CT scan) by 4pm.  when i got in, i saw their patient census and noticed that they've already had quite a number of patients already, and my co-residents were already having backlogs.  i looked at the worklist for the duty period and saw that there were a lot of patients scheduled for CT scans, even during late night.  i braced myself for a toxic duty.  guess i didn't prepare myself well enough.

call after call for patients to have their CT scans came pouring in: outpatients willing to wait, inpatients waiting for their turn, ER patients that need to be accommodated.  for every one patient that i was able to manage to type in an initial reading, 2 patients would get scanned.  benign cases, toxic cases.  in the end i had so much backlog.

eventually the toxicity died down a bit.  we were able to eat a decent dinner.  due to the sheer number of patients who had their scans, i didn't get an ounce of sleep at all.  my junior resident asked if she can lie down for a few hours and sleep off the eye fatigue and headache.  of course i said yes.  she woke up a couple of hours later and she was very apologetic when she saw the worklist.  i managed to do initial read for almost all the pending cases while she was sleeping.  i said that it was okay.  i don't feel at ease on duty nights if there are pending cases.  plus for some strange reason, sleep eluded me last night.  even if i stopped and tried to go to sleep, i never did get to.  so i just worked on.

on an unrelated note, my co-residents who recently finished their residency have all passed the diplomate exam for the Philippine Board of Radiology.  the streak continues, 100%.  i always knew they'd make it.  i've been with them for a few years now and i know their capabilities.  there was never any doubt that they'd all pass.  and now i'm officially hitting the panic button.  it'll be my batch's turn to take the exam next year.  hoping that we'll keep the streak alive.

another unrelated note, the graduation for the residents will be this thursday.  included in the program is the presentation of the incoming chief residents.  gotta have my long coat rushed, i'll be needing it for the occasion.  it'll be the first time that i'll be wearing my long coat.  after that it's official, chief resident for 2011.

and now after the adrenaline rush has died down, sleep has come to me at last.  be hibernating