Beep. Beep. Beep.
My pager sounds so much louder at night. The day’s commotion of physician rounds, family visits and discharges disappears into the quiet stillness of the night shift. The pager’s alarm-clock insistence, grating at the best of times, now bursts upon my eardrums like the siren of a squad car.
“Patient having 10/10 abdominal pain,” the message reads. “Can you come up and see her?”
Like fatigue or shortness of breath, abdominal pain is one of those symptoms that could represent anything. It could be as benign as constipation or as serious as a surgical emergency.
I study Elaine’s chart. She’s 41 and in good overall health, despite high cholesterol and gallstones. She was admitted with abdominal pain this morning, with the presumption that she had an inflamed gallbladder. However, an ultrasound was inconclusive.
