Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.

Tag: hospital.stories

  • Incision and Drainage

    Descriptions within not recommended for sensitive stomachs.

  • A Spoonful of Sugar

    A toddler admitted for poor feeding sits cross-legged on the hospital bed, clutching a takeout soup container in their feet. My first thought is that the periorbital edema has significantly improved after diuresis, but my attention is soon drawn to the large stainless steel serving spoon clutched in their hand. I noted some fine motor…

  • Modern Medicine

    I am a fan of technology, it says so right in my tagline. I also think that finding ways to apply developing technology to medicine is pretty cool, and is something I enjoy doing myself when the opportunities arrive. That being said, technology hasn’t always lived up to its promise of making life easier, and…

  • Critical Care

    Michael rides in an ambulance for the first time as an adult and learns from some of the most competent people in the children’s hospital.

  • Intern Insecurities

    Now that I’ve finished my first month as an intern, I can admit I was afraid that the first time a nurse asked me a question, I would freeze, burst into tears, and run away. So far, so good. Perhaps the most awkward experience this month was not, in fact, showing first-time mothers how to…

  • Please Wait, Death Is Loading

    Ms. A was brought in from a nursing facility by the transport team my first week of ICU rotation. I had no idea what I was doing and my first thought was, “she looks old, I hope she doesn’t code before someone else gets here.” She was around 95 years old and had the kind…

  • Hydrogen Peroxide and a Band Aid

    Or, “I did in 60 seconds what the University of Maryland Medical Center could not do in 3 hours.” This evening went very different from how I imagined it would go as I was preparing to leave work. I was cleaning out the cryostat from my latest spate of brain-cutting and my hand slipped, slicing…