Spewing Supine And Penis Poking

Vomiting while lying flat on one's back is dangerous. It's east to aspirate (inhale) the vomit, which could result in pneumonia and even death. So when I heard retching sounds and saw my patient vomiting while lying flat on her back, I lunged for the bed controls to raise the head of her bed up. In between heaves she screamed to lower the bed back down. She was alert and oriented, so I had to do what she said after arguing with her for a little bit.

My next plan was to roll her over on her side, but when I tried that she screamed at me to not touch her. Again, I had to do what she said. Patients have the right to not be touched or to refuse treatment even when it's a stupid choice. People have the right to be stupid.

All I could do was watch her puke and make suggestions. She was throwing up chunks of what looked like dog kibble mixed with green bile. Since she hadn't eaten for over 12 hours in preparation for surgery, this was odd. Don't ask me what the chunks were. How should I know? I sent her to surgery like that after informing anesthesia. After that it was their problem.

Another patient came back from ankle surgery complaining that his penis and testicles were numb. He had a spinal, so numbness wouldn't have been unusual except that he had already regained complete feeling in his legs and everywhere else. It is not typical for the genitals to be the last body-part to regain sensation. Of course, he was anxious about this. Anesthesia was called.

The anesthesiologist came up, probably worried about a huge malpractice suit, to see the patient. I don't know what he did, but the patient felt it. He felt it really well. After that he needed morphine. I bet he never complains of numb genitals again.