Where we work

Strange things can happen in a big city hospital. This is no less true in our little part of the world in the Kiddy Corner.

More than half of the kids who we see here at our pediatric sleep lab have underlying medical issues. Some are very, very disabled and sometimes it's very, very sad and that makes us want to go home and hug our kids until they start squirming and whining and demanding that we stop. And, at other times, we see kids who are in truly bizarre circumstances.

Take last week: Denise showed up for work for her second 12 hour night shift in a row. She read the chart quickly and it looked pretty straightforward: a teenage girl with snoring and obesity. Rule out obstructive sleep apnea. The chart stated that the patient was in DSS custody; that's not uncommon. We see lots of foster kids and adopted kids. This girl, though, was accompanied by two attendants. When Denise went into the patient's room to start the set-up for the test, one of the patient's attendants asked, "Will her shackles get in the way of the wires?" Um, did she just say SHACKLES?! Apparently someone mistook DYS (i.e., INCARCERATION!) for DSS. So, Denise got the kid wired up and the shackles did not interfere with the study.

So, rule #3 is to remove your shackles before bed.