My Three Stools - (not poop)

It seems like lately I've required the use of stools much more than any normal person should.  Sure I use one to get to the top shelf in the kitchen when Danny isn't around, but usually that's the only time I need one.  Sometimes I even use one when Danny is around just because he won't get up and help me.  He sees me standing in the kitchen jumping up and down with my arms flailing toward the open cupboard, laughs and says, "use your stool!"  And I say, "What?  Do you think I married you for your looks? Get your tall hiney in here and help me!"  Okay, enough about our kitchen stool drama.

So, here are the other stools that have come into my life recently:

Stool #1: I'm doing a rural rotation in Iola, KS and am staying with my preceptor.  She and her family live in a huge Victorian home that used to be a bed and breakfast, and I am staying in a guest room with a ginormous bed.  When they showed me the room, they pointed out that the bed was likely too tall for me to climb up in all by myself and pointed at the stool in the corner.  Actually, I can get into bed all by myself, but it requires me backing across the room and getting a running start.  Okay, so that's stool #1.

Stool #2: My first day in Iola, I got to help with a c-section.  The nurses saw me standing at the OR table, on my tip-toes trying to catch the action.  They were nice enough to bring me a stool so I could see what was going on...and break the amniotic sack....and hold retractors....and cut sutures...and irrigate.  Because that's what med students are good for dadgumit!

Stool #3:  Last month I did a rotation in the ICU. My last week, I was on nights (6pm - 6am).  My very last night, we were getting ready to intubate a patient when the patient coded unexpectedly.  We went through all of our options trying to bring the patient back....epi, cardioversion, and of course chest compressions.  Chest compressions can be pretty exhausting, so the people who are standing around jump in so one person doesn't have to do compressions for the entire code....which can be over an hour.  When I jumped in, one of the nurses told me to keep my arms straight.  Well, because of certain laws of physics and geometry and the fact that I'm a munchkin, I told him that I couldn't keep them straight.  Enter Stool #3.  Unfortunately our efforts were futile and the patient, who had been talking to us earlier in the evening, died right there in front of me.  And I had "Stayin' Alive" stuck in my head for the next few days. (If you do chest compressions to that beat, you'll stay at 100 compressions per minute - fun fact for the day)

So those are my 3 stools.  Stool #2 will be in my life for the next few weeks as I continue my rotation in Iola.  I'm sure I will see Stool #1 again as well.  Stool #3 can take a flying leap.  I'm tired of patients dying.