need some advice about work

Ok so i'm 5 weeks now from scan dates and we think i might be pregnant with twins and i'm a obstetrics and gynae doctor. I went back to work to do two night shifts and nearly fainted in two caesarian section operations in the middle of theatre as we were operating in the middle of the night which we do a lot as they are emergencies.

I'm so exhausted and feeling so so so nauseous i dont know what to do. I feel terrible letting my colleagues down and i'm really trying to muddle through and keep going. Some of my colleagues know i'm pregnant as ironically they were looking after me when i had my corpus leutem rupture week before last but most of the midwives etc dont know and its making me look really bad and its not good for the patients or my ability to do my job.

There is a culture of 'doctors dont get sick'... i'm feeling huge pressure...if i go off sick AGAIN everyone thinks you are crap but if i'm there its even worse. I'm not actually vomitting just getting really faint and feeling nauseous the whole time so bad i can barely concentrate on anything. The shifts are really long (about 13 hours) and are day and night, i'm on my feet all the time and they are REALLY busy! I barely have enough time to get even two glasses of water through a shift let alone stop to eat or graze on snacks and stay hydrated like you are supposed to do to stop feeling nauseous and the hospital is so f***ing hot i feel drenched in sweat the whole damn time. I can just about get through all that- its when i'm in theatre gowned up and under the lights doing physically demanding work (pulling babies out of tummies is really physical!!) that i feel worst and i go green and almost black out. I havent actually gone down and blacked out in theatre yet- i always manage to get out before i actually do go but its just horrible!!!! An di know one of these times i will black out for sure....

I very rarely cry at work but i've been in floods with feeling so awful. I so dont want it to continue like this. I've got ages to go till the morning sickness and feeling tired passes. How the devil am i going to keep going like this??

Sorry to rant but i think i'm going mad!!!! Any suggestions are ideas?? I'm at my wits end....

remember you are a person and you're going to get sick and tired. It might be worth explaining your situation to work mates and colleagues so they can have a better understanding. After all the more they know the more they can help and support you.

Hey doc, I'm a Physician and have had to tell all the other doctors and 1 of the Sisters as I feel so unwell (nausea, fatigue, weepiness). I was struggling to see patients, partially because of weepiness and also because I felt so damn sick. My patients mean the world to me and if I'm seeing them I need to be well enough to do so and give them the best service I can (most need huge support as do their families).

The other docs have all been really supportive and have said I can come in late and are seeing all the patients I don't feel up to seeing. I've covered for them in the past and now they're doing it for me. I'm going to offer to work Christmas for them this year (won't be able to drink anyway and better to get it out of the way before I have little ones) to make up for it.

I'm sure the nurses suspect (that nurse intuition!) as they're all being extra nice to me - they know I've not been feeling well and they also know I want kids, and I'm sure they're putting 2 and 2 together with me coming in late and being sick! I am lucky to work in one of the more understanding branches of the profession - I was thinking back to when I was in Surgery/General Medicine/MRCP years and thinking how on EARTH do people do this when they're pregnant - I think that's why so many female docs wait till later to have kids. I can well remember in my younger years struggling through mammoth shifts whilst sick so the shifts would get covered. The 'doctors don't get sick' mantra is outdated and we need to take care of ourselves to make sure we're fit for work. I hope your colleagues are understanding if you decide to tell them - you could tell a few trusted colleagues to help cover you - though I understand it's trickier when you're doing on calls, unless there's a 2nd on? Is there a Postgrad Dean/Educational Superviser/supportive female Consultant you can talk to? Could they cut your shifts and get a locum for the next couple of months? :hug::hug::hug:

Im sorry to hear you feel pish :cry: No advice, sorry but wanted to send you a huge :hugs:

Thanks guys... Holly21- its so nice to have another doc on the forum!! Its such a wierd experience to be a patient now! Its a pretty unique profession and all this doctors dont get sick thing is outdated but it does still prevail...work after a few traumas have been good given me a bit of time off and i'm going to go back to lighter duties off labour ward without nights which is really good so i'm hugely pleased and relieved but talking to other docs i think this happens all the time. I guess its a complicated thing for them to cover but we've managed to sort it and i'm feeling a bit better so smiles all round!!!!

Thanks for the support....

I am sorry you are feeling crap and can kind of sympathis with you.

i am a theatre scrub nurse and even though I am only 4 weeks I am so warm all the time to the pointI am sweating after I come down from the table and I dont know what I will do when morning sickness kicks in!

:hugs:

I recon most of the nurses you work with probably have guessed really but I would maybe tell a few more of yor collegues not only cause they may help you out re work but if you do pass out at table they will know why.

Hope your morning sickness passes soon!!

:hugs:

Emma.xx

So glad work have cut you some slack and you can take things easier. I don't know how you 2 manage in theatre - I always feel warm and faint gowned up and that's without being pregnant! Doc123, you'll be very au fait with what's going on in your body doing Obs and Gynae - I managed to avoid Obs and Gobs (by choice!) and didn't really come into contact with pregnant women unless it was for stuff like cholestasis, PE, SVT etc. Did you have to change hospital at the start of August or are you in familiar territory? Hope you're feeling better today :hug:

I hope you feel better soon and remember you are human. I am a nurse and worked OB in my previous life (you wouldn't know it by how I seem to not know anything now it pertains to me lol) you can not help how you feel right now. Do you have any vacation time? Maybe if you do you could take a week and just rest relax and hopefully be able to start fresh again and if not then let them know I am sure they will understand they are ob/gyn's too. :hug: to you

edit: I did not see your post before I posted. I am really happy that something has been worked out.