Consumption

The New Yorker is tailor-freaking-made for newFNP this week. A Talk of the Town piece about Pavement (you can bet newFNP has her tickets!!), an article about FB, another about Tavi and an article about J. Crew!! When in the world will she find the time to watch Sons of Anarchy??

But newFNP's life hasn't been all fashion and literature and hot, swaggering, conflicted motorcycle club VPs.

She has blissfully received one day of pediatrics and women's health in the midst of her grueling internal medicine and outpatient OB schedule. Except that life is not to blissful when one sees a 22-month old kid -- in the U.S. for four days -- with hemoptysis, such that his little jeans are covered with blood, and right apical rales that are gurgling to beat the band.

He had been in clinic two days prior and had been treated for a severe stomatitis. While the mom did note that he had the hemoptysis, the other provider treated the stomatitis and placed a PPD. The PPD was, as one might expect, stunningly positive.

It was no great stretch for newFNP to mask that sweet boy and send him to the emergency room after explaining her concern for active TB to the mom. And, of course, there this little boy remains, on oxygen with fulminant TB. It's hard for newFNP to imagine that those apical rales weren't present two days prior, but it's always easier to see things clearly in retrospect, is it not?