sad case of kevin murphy

Almost miss the conference today, luckily I didn't.

It was a talk by the mother of Kevin Murphy, a lad in his 20's who died about 10 years ago due to medical negligence. He had bone pain and renal function impairment. Unfortunately for him, his serum Ca level was neglected again and again. From 3.15, the reading rose to 5.73, and 6.10 towards the last few days of his life. And even more sad for him, the readings were only discovered 6 months after his death. Solitary parathyroid adenoma is the diagnosis, and the successful rate of surgery (if undergone) is as high as 96%.

Talking about today, 7am post-take ward round was a really fresh experience for me. Crossing quiet roads and walking down deserted corridors was my first time since I've been here. There's a new patient that I met, a 40yo lady who has a lot of complaints. She has "itchiness inside the head", bilateral flank pain, back pain that radiates to the back and down her thighs, loss of appetite, not sleeping well, unable to walk etc..I was confused. I asked her what brought her to the hospital, and she said "everything". When I flipped her chart, guess what it says -- depression. Ahhh..that explains everything.

I'm looking forward to having my own bathroom! :D