Practice

May 9, 2002

I’m reading Atul Gawande’s book, Complications, about the training and education of doctors in our country and how they interact with patients. Last night, I got my own firsthand look at an ER—after sucking in fumes from a downstairs apartment (the managers are refurbishing that unit, but gave no warning about a noxious chemical they were using) all day, we retreated to a hotel. While Erin was off studying, I got sicker and sicker, until I was vomiting into the toilet. For some reason, Anna thought this was the funniest thing a daddy could do. Erin returned, and then my friend Blaine came to take me to the hospital, where I continued to puke my brains out. Ugh, and yuck! But, after a few liters of fluid and a bit of anti-nausea medication, I was well enough to go and sleep in a kind-sized hotel bed. I’m home now, with nice breezes on this 88-degree day cleansing the apartment.

My other memorable trip to the ER was in Hawaii, when, after oral surgery and 24 hours of bleeding from a severed vein, I passed out. Dad picked me out of the shower and called 911. I remember a very bumpy ambulance ride to the hospital, where I cracked a golf course joke to my worried dentist.

I’ve stopped watching the show ER—The West Wing supplanted ER as my one hour of television fandom—but I did watch last week’s episode that said announced the death of the Mark Greene character. Tonight’s episode is a tribute to that character. Also tonight is Anthony Zuiker’s CSI:Crime Scene Investigation, which with tonight’s episode begins a spinoff show of CSI set in Miami; the original CSI is set in Anthony’s home town of Las Vegas.

Anton Zuiker ☄