Friday, April 30, 2010

On-call food

You guys have heard me bitch about the miserable sleep-deprived, food-deprived, caffeine-deprived condition called "being on-call" that us docs live through.

I describe things best with words. My esteemed colleague Fizzy, however, draws pictures. And for those of you who, after reading my blog, still don't understand the state of desperate insanity that being on-call causes, I present Fizzy's recent, very accurate, pictorial description.

(click to enlarge)


28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. If you would eat KFC's Double Down then you must indeed be desperately insane.

Anonymous said...

Try the Double Down before you bash it. Pure ambrosia.

Gert said...

That's great! Being on call also allows copious amounts of donuts.

Fizzy said...

Thanks for the link :)

It always amazed me the kind of half-eaten crap I could leave in the residents lounge that would still somehow get eaten like within an hour.

Christy said...

GAG!!!

I saw a commercial/picture of that double down thing from KFC and wanted to vomit. I used to eat anything and not care how unhealthy it was, but now even looking at things like that makes me sick.

Gloria P said...

That sounds like a reminder of internship or residency but of shorter duration.

a.generic doc said...

On call food can be anything that doesn't have growth on it. To paraphrase the words of the old Jell-o ads, "If it is there, you'd eat it."

KateA said...

Our emergency service is under staffed right now and I have been going in on most of my "days (nights) off" and working to help the relief vets that are not used to our hospital. I go in to give a hand and end up staying for 16 hrs. I went in this morning for 8 AM-6:30PM ICU duty and got home at 11:30. Why? Because THREE respiratory distress (one so bad it being ventilated) hit by car dogs, a GI obstruction dog, cat fell on by couch, dog swallowed needle, etc all rushed in at once. There were others, but I didn't have to work with them. But I did get to work with an amazing trauma and critical care surgeon.

It is worth it just to learn how to tie off the descending aorta with a red rubber catheter when doing open heart CPR.

The Duchess said...

I want to try the Double Down just because I'm sure it tastes like pure naughtiness. Kind of like the Krispy Kreme burger - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/03/broadcasts/main1680067.shtml

Chrysalis said...

I was hoping Fizzy had a blog. We could use a medical comic blog to read.

terri c said...

My first thought was that some of these look pretty plausible. Then I remembered: I'm on call. Res ipsa loquitur.

Kimbra Kasch said...

Fizzy obviously missed his calling in life - should have been an animator.

;)

Anonymous said...

patient graham crackers with butter and ensure.

Frantic Pharmacist said...

Pretty much the same story in the pharmacy... two-day old doughnuts with a little ranitidine syrup spilled on them? --- no problem.
No food ever goes to waste. P.S. I work with some pretty ethnic-cuisine savvy people and they RAVE about the KFC Mashed Potato Bowl. What the..???

Anonymous said...

I live in a small town (50K). My doc brother's angelic wife keeps a plate from the last meal (usually only dinner, except on the weekends). They've been married 26 years, so it's really done to a system.

Joe said...

Ohh. Another blog I'm now going to have to follow. Thanks DrGrumpy.

DreamingTree said...

I'm a very healthy eater at home. Nursing has turned me into a junk food junky. I crave all kinds of junk while racing around the unit, and end up eating way too much when I finally get to go home. Ironic that working in health care would be a threat to my health.

Dixie McCall said...

I'm wondering what KateA's post bragging about her veterinary skills and dedication has to do with on-call food choices?

My hospital food choices are almost anything with caffeine or chocolate in it. Or the saltines from the patients' food cupboard.

gabbiana said...

Last night I ate an apple that had been sitting on the dusty counter behind an ER computer for the last three days.

I rinsed it off first, though.

Elan said...

I agree with angel. FIzzy! make a medical comic blog!

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Fizzy has a Blog, gang! Over there on my blog list!

Fizzy said...

SB College student, check it out:

http://doccartoon.blogspot.com/

Dr. Grumpy even linked to it :)

vicki said...

i've been a patient in the hospital and i lost weight eating hospital food because it was so nasty i had a hard time swallowing eat ... ya'll must be DESPERATE to eat patient's food. i'll save it for you the next time i'm in ... because i won't eat it ... i'll wait for you to bring me that kfc thingy.

Anonymous said...

I am the child of two physicians- one a radiologist (dad} and one a pediatrician (mom}.

One of the first things I ever learned was that both parents must have caffeine in the morning, If we wanted breakfast- we had to being Mom coffeee.

I also remember that calls always came at dinner time- and I know Dad would either grab and eat as much as he could in the few minutes before he left or take it with him,.

anon.

The Redheaded Pharmacist said...

I told someone at work the other day about that new KFC Double Down. They didn't believe me, lol. I had to actually pull it up online and show them.

ERP said...

I just jealously eyed some God-only-knows how old turkey sandwich in the back of the ER dept's fridge.

stargirl65 said...

While in residency we noticed many of the elderly would never touch their ensure. One of my friend's must have lived on ensure. Also anything that didn't look touched (still wrapped up) was fair game.

Plus lots of caffeine.

KateA said...

@ Dixie McCall...not bragging, just post call high from getting 5 hours of sleep over a 48 hour period. And the proximity to one of the most inspirational, albeit weird, individuals in the world. Personally, I have found that those packs of honey make for a good snack around 4 AM.

 
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