Are You Pregnant? Nope, I'm A Lesbian.

Working my usual night shift in a small town hospital. I roll into the Emergency Room with my portable xray machine after getting a request for a chest xray.

Me: "Hi there. Doctor's ordered a chest xray. Any chance you might be pregnant?"

Patient: "Nope. I'm a lesbian."

Me: "Well...okay then."

At least I didn't have to wait for lab tests...

A Day at the Office - Renal Infarct CT Scan

I couldn't resist posting this unusual scan I performed recently. It happens to be a friend of mine but identity isn't important. What started out as right flank pain became so severe that "Bob" came to my Emergency Room.

A routine CT Abdomen&Pelvis and Renal Ultrasound showed nothing other than a right renal cyst on the inferior pole. The patient was discharged home only to return later that night (on my shift) with increased pain. Evaluation of a second set of bloodwork showed a marked increase in white blood cells so the ER Physician decided to order a second CT Abdomen&Pelvis but with IV and PO contrast dye this time.

The image attached to this blog post shows a fully enhanced left kidney (its on the right side of the screen) and a poorly enhanced right kidney. The right kidney appears to only be receiving contrast dye in the upper and lower poles. The middle pole is almost non-existent.

With these images, the medical team was able to discern a renal infart or possible discection was in play and "Bob" was taken to the Cath Lab for stenting. He is doing much better now, one week later, and is schedule for more follow up testing to check perfusion rates.

Daddy...my tummy hurts! Acute Appendicitis

Another unusual CT Scan today (for me anyway). A 10 year old boy came in with his father complaining of RLQ pain (right lower quadrant). This can be a sign of problems with the appendix and normal Emergency Room protocol demands a CT Scan of the Abdomen&Pelvis with Oral and IV contrast.

I've attached the axial (cross-sectional) image of his pelvis. The little worm or snail looking thing (as my wife calls it) in the upper left corner is his highly enlarged appendix.

Little man was transferred out of our facility to a more appropriate children's facility where I'm sure he had it removed by morning.

My ER Physician that evening was also a surgeon and he stated that in all his years in surgery, he'd never seen an appendix look like that one.

Choosing A Career in Radiology

I highly recommend the healthcare field to anyone seeking a career. If you don't know what you want to do, check out the numerous possibilities of working in healthcare. Why am I such a big proponent? Let me count the ways:

Need. Everyone needs healthcare at some point. From birth to death, healthcare is a necessity. Vaccine shots are needed for kids to go to school. Physical exams are needed for sports and insurance. Everyone eventually needs to visit a medical facility at some point in their life.

Pay. Check the salary tool at Monster.com. Look up the pay wages of healthcare workers. There are not very many jobs that are low paying and on top of salary is all the benefits.

Benefits. Retirement packages of matched funds, variety in work schedules, scrubs, and countless others. I particularly like working in hospitals.

Hospitals. Everything you need is right next to you. Dirty clothes? Grab some scrubs. Hungry? Go to the cafeteria, which is discounted to you as an employee. Headache? Visit your in-house pharmacy. Car broke down? Every hospital has a bus stop nearby. Want to go back to school? Hospitals general reimburse all tuition fees up to a set amount as long as it improves your ability at work.

Which career in the healthcare field do I recommend? Definitely Radiology. Compare all the two-year programs out there. Mechanical repair, Computer Aided Drawing, Air Conditioning Repair and see which pays you the most for the least amount of tuition. I paid $20K for Xray school. Granted, I paid a little much. I could have gone to the local community college and paid $6K but I didn't want to sit on the waiting list for two years.

Radiology, here in Arizona, pays roughly $20 per hour right after graduation. Accompany that with all the ways to optimize you paycheck and you can easily make $60K your first year. I am also encouraged by Radiology because of the upward movement potential. After you graduate as an Xray Tech, you can learn other skills on the job. Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are OJT skills. You do not have to go to school to learn them or be certified (although this will change some day.) Each new skill or modality earns you a bigger paycheck.

Xray training can also be a springboard to other programs such as Sonography (Ultrasound), Radiation Therapy, or Nuclear Medicine. These require an additional two years of schooling but afford you a nice pay jump. I am currently in Sonography school at Gateway Community College. The cost is around $6K and my hospital is reimbursing me for the entire thing.

I have utilized my training to land a nice job on a night shift. This allows me to be home with my children and work when they sleep. I can usually find time to squeeze homework in when business is slow and nights are generally much slower than day shifts.

Originally posted on Helium here.