I have just got back from Sweden, where I went to visit a girl I made friends with on elective. We shared a room and a group of friends and some ridiculous experiences for 7 weeks, at the end of which we felt pretty close. Then we both went back to our medical schools for finals, so we haven't seen each other since.
When we last saw each other we were medical students in Tanzania, but when I climbed off the coach on Friday to see her again we were doctors in Sweden! It was odd. Luckily, as soon as we started talking and walking (activities we both particularly like), it was as if 6 months had not in fact passed since our last decent gossip. We went all over the place, onto the lake near her little town, 20km round trip to a viking burial mound on single-speed, clapped-out bikes, into Stockholm, to a party. We ate fike (coffee and cake), korv (hot-dogs) and lax (salmon). Then today she went to work.
She's working in the infectious diseases ward of a district general hospital, just outside the town centre. So, I stole her bike and spent the day exploring the woods and islands around Lake Malaren, made some stew for dinner and went to collect her. The ward is a separate block, with 12 rooms on each side around a central 'island' containing the kitchen, nurses station etc. It was pretty similar to home, except all infection patients have one of these isolation rooms. From the inside is a sort of air-lock, containing a sink and aprons. Then the actual room opens onto a veranda, so that patients can go outside from their own room. I thought it was all rather swish.
Today my friend had a new patient with a complicated problem. The patient was a child with otitis media and possibly externa, and suspected mastoiditis. They were worried and got an ENT review and a CT. The ENT review said it wasn't convincing for otitis media or externa, and the CT didn't show a collection. However, it did show an air-bubble in the CSF! Now, I've never heard of this before, but that doesn't mean much! The radiologist said it must be from the L.P., but this was done after the CT, so that's impossible. Clinically, this kid isn't too bad, and certainly isn't meningitic. Any thoughts team?
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