Tuesday Top of Mind 12/19/23-December is a drag

I said it.

I mean it.

December in the operating room is a drag.

It is not for the faint of heart. Cases, cases, cases, cases, cases, cases.

Cases.

Everyone and their family member has hit their out of pocket deductible for the year and MUST HAVE SURGERY by the end of year!!!

Honey, there isn’t enough operating room hours to accommodate this. Even if you were more pleasant about it.

Do you want to know where my holiday spirit went?

Yeah, it’s under the avalanche of surigical cases.

I saw a tee shirt that said error 404, holiday spirit not found. You bet I bought it immediately. In green. The red lettering really pops.

Hell, for healthcare as a whole December is a drag.

The hospital wards are full, full, full. There are patients stacked in the ER like kindling, waiting for a bed to open up. They have cordoned off areas of the HALLWAY as “ER cubicles” where they see patients. And the patients wait until they are well enough to go home, or a proper room opens up and the hallway patient can become a room patient. To wait again for a unit bed to open up.

Plus covid, rsv, and the flu have decided to make this year a triple threat. Again with a new variant that is rising fast in the charts.

There are also the usual big bellies, gynecological emergencies, fractures. This month has it all.

Stay safe out there. But be especially careful of wet leaves.

The OR will still be doing cases until the bitter end of the year. And into next year, trying to clear the backlog.

I’m going to have a little eggnog and put on my favorite Christmas song and try to get into the swing of things as I check my list to make sure I have all the makings for Christmas dinner. And wrap presents.

The only acceptable Christmas movie will be either Die Hard or Gremlins.