Long day, I really hope that it's over.... I got up on time, and I got to work on time, those were my big accomplishments of the day. I found out this afternoon that I was on call, no big deal. Well, until 17:00, when I was supposed to go home and there were still four CTs to be done from the ED. Nothing but troubles... couldn't get the patients for some silly reason or another. Then, finally, I could get a patient... a girl with an earring in the top of her ear. I was doing a brain CT, and the metal would produce artifacts, so we set about trying to remove it. It was a simple loop with a ball that she said had been "pressed" into place. And it sure was. The ball didn't move. I tried to pry it apart... that didn't work. We used several ring-cutters on it, they wouldn't cut it, they're good for gold and silver, but not for this metal, whatever it was. So we gave up, and I did the CT without it. Yep, artifacts. So the exam was sub-optimal, I really hope that it doesn't wind up being a court case. So... the lesson here is, don't let anyone attach anything to your body that you can't get off. I already knew that, but you probably didn't. And we had a weird, weird case today, something that I've never seen before. A lady had an accident on her bike, and the handlebar went through her calf and almost out the other side. The rubber grip was still on the handlebar, too. Supposedly, this was a single-bike accident... but it takes a lot to press a 2-inch pipe through your leg muscle. Anyway, I got out of there about 18:15. Came home and Karen made some BLTs... delicious! Fresh tomatoes... mmmm! The phone rang about the time I was done eating... and back to the hospital I went. Still busybusybusy. I got stuff cleaned up and I was outta there in an hour or so, though. So... another Monday gone from my life. Yours too, I must add.