Scared Of Healing

Priority #1

"Alrighty Ellie, I've ordered for a lung function test to get your current FEV1, the techs should be up soon, then, depending on the results, I wanna talk to you about some other treatment options" I say. Ellie nods, "what kind of options?" she asks apprehensively. I sigh, "we'll take things nice and slow, you can tell us what you're comfortable with, but I'm thinking about doing a procedure called a bronchoscopy" I say carefully, not sure if she knows what it is. Ellie lets out a melancholy breath, "I don't like bronchoscopies" she says. I nod understandingly, "I know it's not nice, I reckon I can get you on Luke's schedule if I'm sneaky about it though" I say. Ellie sighs before nodding, "ok" she mumbles, looking down. "Alright, we'll check your lung function before we make any decisions though" I say and Ellie nods again.

I leave Ellie to her thoughts, knowing she likes to be left alone and that I can't pile any more information on top of this just yet. I make my way across the ward to another one of my adolescent patients. He is a recent addition to the ward and I am hoping to discharge him tomorrow if I can find confidence that he will look after himself better. I shuffle around the room and stand next to his bed after greeting the other three patients in the shared room. "Alright bud, I just wanna feel your stomach so I can see if we need another x-ray or not" I say. The boy groans but nods, allowing me to flatten the bed. My patient has been suffering with severe constipation for the past two days and I'm hoping that after a course of high grade laxatives, his stomach will have softened this morning. "Alright mate..." I start as I gently lift his shirt, revealing his abdomen, "...I'm just gonna feel around now, tell me if it's uncomfortable at all" I say as my hands move around. I focus on the boy's abdomen before I hear loud coughs coming from the other side of the ward.

My head shoots in the direction of the coughs and I see Ellie with the resp tech through the window of her room. She is obviously struggling but it doesn't seem like an emergency and the tech seems to be keeping it somewhat under control. I bring my focus back to my current patient, still keeping an ear out, listening to how Ellie is going. Eventually, the coughing has a brief pause, two minutes later it recomenses. This happens four more times before the resp tech leaves the room. I quickly finish examining the boy's abdomen, pleased that significant progress is evident. "Ok matey, that's feeling a lot better, I'll send you down for another x-ray this afternoon and if that's all good, I reckon you can get home tomorrow!" I say. The boy groans, obviously not happy that I am still in his presence, so I leave.

I walk out to the nurses station, immediately ordering the x-ray before checking to see if the resp tech has uploaded Ellie's results for her FEV1 yet. I let out a huge sigh of relief when I see that her lung function has only dropped just below 51% because it means there hasn't been a significantly dangerous decline since her last test. It does mean that a bronchoscopy is the best course of action at the moment though. I have a quick look at the theatres schedule and notify Luke that he has been requested for a surgery tomorrow afternoon, which is his next appropriate free space.