tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post6275363115023295164..comments2024-03-28T10:32:27.517+03:00Comments on Stories from the trauma bay: Confessions 2018DocBastardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12224592098492491365noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-52330796235131522122018-02-05T06:42:39.050+02:002018-02-05T06:42:39.050+02:00SisterBastard here. Doc always used to assert tha...SisterBastard here. Doc always used to assert that he refused to eat “fungus”. I think he said it was just unnatural. Nice to know that some things never change. (Picky damn Bastard.)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10177400284209742184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-46656306516553529502018-01-30T21:13:00.883+02:002018-01-30T21:13:00.883+02:00>> I really do want more followers on Twitte...>> I really do want more followers on Twitter and <br />>> more readers here.<br /><br />I followed you here from Twitter, because I prefer long-form ranty goodness to tiny little nuggets of Twitter.<br /><br />>> I hate spam comments here almost as much as spam <br />>> phone calls at home, and I wish I could round up <br />>> all the spammers, put them in a small office building, <br />>> and make them all call and email each other nonstop <br />>> until they all die.<br /><br />I spent much of the last fifteen years working in Web-hosting, and I spent a significant portion of that time fighting spam at the server level. I have long wished for infinite cosmic power so that I could make the act of sending spam *physically* painful. On a per-message level. The more spam you send, the more agony you receive. I think that would clear up a lot of it.<br /><br />>> I am a big Star Wars fan, and I loved "The Last Jedi". <br />>> It's probably my favourite Star Wars movie. <br /><br />While it's not my favorite (that would be Return of the Jedi,) I also loved it. My only gripes are that I wanted to see more interaction between Luke and the original-trilogy characters and the whole thing was too damn short. <br /><br />>> I got an email from a publisher about potentially <br />>> publishing a book.<br /><br />I would read your book.<br /><br />>> Despite my palate maturing as I've aged, I still cannot<br />>> bring myself to eat a mushroom. Seriously, fuck <br />>> mushrooms.<br /><br />I feel exactly the same about cooked peas. The only peas that don't taste like hobo dirt to me are uncooked snap peas right out of the pod.stevenglassmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06637043773506647979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-27324450390464729292018-01-28T15:55:07.092+02:002018-01-28T15:55:07.092+02:00"According to rumor, JarJar was meant - event..."According to rumor, JarJar was meant - eventually -to be the shadowy figure behind Darth Sidious, quite deliberately hiding in plain sight. He does perform some critical actions behind the rise of Sidious.<br /><br />Then it turned out that everyone hated the character so he got sidelined."<br /><br />But we can't get rid of Donald Trump soon enough for me. Not that I view Pence or Ryan as being much better. I don't want to live in a theocracy either.<br /><br />WednesdayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-68396208940285268252018-01-22T20:28:06.065+02:002018-01-22T20:28:06.065+02:00She's got her family around her. And the cops ...She's got her family around her. And the cops already have the shooter in custody. It'll take a year or more before it goes to trial. But it seems like the system might actually work for us this time.RChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06521226146675369276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-66957836888024199562018-01-19T22:47:54.728+02:002018-01-19T22:47:54.728+02:00I hope you and she, and everyone, have a good grou...I hope you and she, and everyone, have a good group supporting you through this. Ken Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15166383392696452631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-89333659568623444372018-01-19T21:35:44.565+02:002018-01-19T21:35:44.565+02:00Thanks Ken, I appreciate that.Thanks Ken, I appreciate that.RChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06521226146675369276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-65333385656368499082018-01-18T06:38:18.741+02:002018-01-18T06:38:18.741+02:00I am truly sorry for your co-worker's loss, an...I am truly sorry for your co-worker's loss, and for the circumstances surrounding it. That is a very hard thing to process, even from an unrelated emergency responder's perspective.<br />you, and she, have my deepest sympathy.Ken Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15166383392696452631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-35712442578703990182018-01-18T06:20:35.587+02:002018-01-18T06:20:35.587+02:00Yes, Doc, you have FANS -- what do you think all t...Yes, Doc, you have FANS -- what do you think all those Twitter followers are? I would love for you to do a proper memoir-style book, but if telling your stories as yourself creates privacy issues for your patients, can't you concoct a fictional character, drop him into a totally different locale & tell the stories that way? Like John Le Carré but with an MD? <br /><br />All of this screams tv series to me. I've noticed that television is rebooting old hit shows from the 1990s because Hollywood is apparently too lazy to come up with fresh good ideas. They brought back TWIN PEAKS last year, which I didn't bother with. And THE X-FILES, which is nowhere near as weird & wonderful as the original was, despite my enduring love for Scully & Mulder. If your book is a hit, it could lead to a show. On Netflix. I think a 21st century version of HOUSE, MD set in Baltimore with a trauma surgeon would be huge. Lord knows we have plenty of trauma cases here. They could bring back David Simon to write & produce it.<br /> <br />Last week, the brother of one of my co-workers was shot. On the sidewalk. In broad daylight. He was only 21. And I know a better trauma surgeon couldn't have saved him. There was a head shot, those are usually fatal. But I thought immediately of you, Doc. And of trauma surgeons everywhere in this country who try to undo what bullets do to bodies everyday. <br /><br />The really shitty thing was that she learned about the shooting from her phone. Someone sent her a video of her brother lying on the curb after he was shot. He was moving, so he was still alive. And a random human being chose to film him rather than try to help or comfort him in that moment. The video had been posted on a local Instagram page that features murders in Baltimore. He was killed on Jan. 8, the sixth homicide victim this year. There have been other since that date. <br /><br />Maybe years of watching fake reality tv shows is why actual reality doesn't move people anymore. Perhaps letting the public see gun violence every week tv on from a medical perspective, portrayed as a pubic health issue, would make a difference.RChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06521226146675369276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-51252458024471747482018-01-17T21:24:27.593+02:002018-01-17T21:24:27.593+02:00RC - What Melissa and Ken said. I'd love to me...RC - What Melissa and Ken said. I'd love to meet my fans (FANS? REALLY?), but I don't think it will happen. That said, I've been in touch with the publisher in the past week, and they seem to be very interested in some kind of book. We're just starting to work on details.<br /><br />As for why I don't like to train new surgeons, I'm just not a very patient (har har) teacher. I know exactly how I want a procedure to go, so when someone else is doing it (even under my direct supervision and direction), it's maddeningly frustrating.<br /><br />Mrs. Bastard and I have been very savvy with saving. I think retirement will be within our reach. I doubt I will fully retire from working, most likely just from clinical duties. Trauma is a game for the young, and older folks just shouldn't do it.DocBastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12224592098492491365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-9802126390233863862018-01-16T20:52:56.665+02:002018-01-16T20:52:56.665+02:00Not everything is about money... sometimes other t...Not everything is about money... sometimes other things, like privacy, are more important.Melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18423249170976275287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-60016008647499516152018-01-16T17:21:08.272+02:002018-01-16T17:21:08.272+02:00because despite retirement, he still cannot reveal...because despite retirement, he still cannot reveal the identity of the patients he has mentioned in his blog without breaching the trust they placed in him - and if he outs himself, he will also potentially out his patients.Ken Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15166383392696452631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-13405310482975018152018-01-16T09:33:56.714+02:002018-01-16T09:33:56.714+02:00I thought a big enough advance would help him over...I thought a big enough advance would help him overcome his shyness. This blog doesn't really work if Doc's identity is revealed. But if he's looking towards retirement anyway, why not write a book & go out with a bang?RChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06521226146675369276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-19228748569961395522018-01-15T04:02:46.595+02:002018-01-15T04:02:46.595+02:00I would just love to read any book written by you....I would just love to read any book written by you. There is something about your writing that holds my attention and sticks with me like those songs you like.Oldfoolrnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-87823529869319018342018-01-14T15:22:20.415+02:002018-01-14T15:22:20.415+02:00I think asking Doc to do a book so his fans can me...I think asking Doc to do a book so his fans can meet him is going to be the major discouraging factor. He has kept his anonymity thus far to protect his family and probably career. Why would he give that up now just so some nosy fans can know what he looks like? Melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18423249170976275287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-82710525305790454232018-01-14T14:46:02.612+02:002018-01-14T14:46:02.612+02:00I’m not sure what a faulty piccolo has to do with ...I’m not sure what a faulty piccolo has to do with anything, or how it causes pain. But okay. ~Scottiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01282167279473092118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-20785180584425539192018-01-14T09:04:48.418+02:002018-01-14T09:04:48.418+02:00Come t'e piccolo fallo amaro morso!Come t'e piccolo fallo amaro morso!Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04066496863336034242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-30832565137973000102018-01-14T07:31:57.129+02:002018-01-14T07:31:57.129+02:00wait, that's a bieber song?
nooooooooooooooooo...wait, that's a bieber song?<br />nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooKerlyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08639143351713006231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-21782645215332103262018-01-14T01:57:47.087+02:002018-01-14T01:57:47.087+02:00Aye aye. Aye aye. ~Scottiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01282167279473092118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-17849019496764097892018-01-13T14:45:22.846+02:002018-01-13T14:45:22.846+02:00I think that's about enough. I only ask 2 thin...I think that's about enough. I only ask 2 things in the comments - to stay on topic and to be respectful. You folks are violating the latter. Please stop. DocBastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12224592098492491365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-91639122157233049062018-01-13T13:50:44.934+02:002018-01-13T13:50:44.934+02:00Mary! Your condescension is noted, and while the e...Mary! Your condescension is noted, and while the effort is vaguely appreciable, we still understand the message that you’re out of argument. <br /><br />Also, you mockingly offer to bow to his dominance, when you yourself are suggesting that harrassed women do exactly that. Come on lady, if you’re going to make a stupid argument, don’t contradict yourself. ~Scottiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01282167279473092118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-68567964225263545522018-01-13T06:06:15.958+02:002018-01-13T06:06:15.958+02:00Thanks for your thoughts, Dakala. And yes, everyo...Thanks for your thoughts, Dakala. And yes, everyone is supposed to be equal, but VERY much aren't. I think your paragraph about the 50s oversimplifies things quite a bit, but your heart is in the right place. As to why humans resist change even when it is in their best interest, books have been written about it. Who knows, really? When I began working the great debate was whether women could wear pants suits to work rather than skirts! I could go on, but just let me point out one thing. Most men are bigger, and much stronger, than most women. They are not hindered by pregnancy and nursing. Thus the beginning of the power imbalance. The development of a reliable small weapon (aka The Equalizer) began a shift from smaller and weaker people having less power than bigger and stronger ones, but the thing that really made a difference for women was the birth control pill. Now all of this is a great oversimplification of an extremely complex social - and psychological - phenomenon, but we all still resound to this primal setup. We are basically less hairy and better-looking chimps, in my opinion, and we still act like them a lot of the time. We see this behavior displayed by Trump all the time. He is a lying, rage-full bully who appeals to our most primitive instincts, and quite successfully, evidently. The very fact that a man like him is seen as successful in our society and indeed is elected as our president speaks to our frighteningly primitive natures, still.<br /><br />I don't want to write a dissertation, but it is going to take many generations and a lot of screaming and pendulum swinging before we make a dent in this mess. And we may not survive it. You sound like a decent guy, but as a man you operate INNATELY from a very different perspective than any woman. And that is true of everyone now alive. So I believe that women have to get over themselves as much as they have to tell men where to go when necessary. It's ironic that so many of us hold Islam in such contempt really. One of the basic assumptions in Arab cultures is that men - and women - can't control themselves when they are alone with each other. Actually, they blame it much more on women, but consider the source. But it would seem to be true that lots of men can't be trusted alone with women, based on all the stories that are coming out and are yet to come out. How sad, for all of us.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04066496863336034242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-90961978169753935442018-01-13T05:36:10.056+02:002018-01-13T05:36:10.056+02:00Honey, you are getting booooooring. But so we can...Honey, you are getting booooooring. But so we can get this over with, let me bow to your primate dominance needs and say YOU WIN, MASSA.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04066496863336034242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-42938885632791725342018-01-13T05:23:00.298+02:002018-01-13T05:23:00.298+02:00Resorting to sexism to battle sexism is deeply iro...Resorting to sexism to battle sexism is deeply ironic, I think.<br /><br />Yes, this issue is deeply-set, and carried forward by both sides, male and female. The only way to end the fight is true equality. Plus, keep in mind that it is HUMAN nature to resist change, both good and bad, and that change is both passive and active.<br /><br />The biggest issue is the two radical extremes of both sides, the vocal minority that everyone hears screaming to the world. They drown out the sense and reason among the ranks, and they drown out the middle-ground, spewing hate and garbage at the other side without care who they hit on the way. On one hand, you have men trying to push things back to the bad-old-days of the 1950's. On the other, you have women trying to reverse the roles of the 1950's as a bit of "eye-for-an-eye" revenge. And these are the two groups everyone hears over any sort of middle ground.<br /><br />Why do you think there's so much resistance to change? It's because we're biologically programmed to see the worst-case scenario and react to it. And right now, we're really close to the bottom of the pendulum's swing, between one extreme and the other.<br /><br />Society as a whole needs to change, yes, but that change needs to meet in the middle. Everyone's equal, which means equal pay, equal benefits, but also equal work and equal expectations. Right now, no one's seeing any compromises between either side. That's not saying there aren't any, but the loud, screaming radical minorities of either side have everyone else afraid to speak up for fear of being 'cast out' of the group.<br /><br />And for the record, I'm a man, though it shouldn't matter because everyone is supposed to be equal.Dakalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05312490840168804147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-48138708619423157632018-01-13T03:05:14.002+02:002018-01-13T03:05:14.002+02:00since Lucas was treating the "rule of two&quo...since Lucas was treating the "rule of two" (one master, and one apprentice) as canon, it voids the theory.Ken Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15166383392696452631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1809371631407381115.post-13794221587412301042018-01-13T03:02:01.400+02:002018-01-13T03:02:01.400+02:00and who is it you are accusing of being sexist?and who is it you are accusing of being sexist?Ken Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15166383392696452631noreply@blogger.com