>> Post-call residents are sleepy. I did not learn this recently, as I have experienced this myself, but I did learn just how sleepy we can be. When post-call, residents apparently experience daytime sleepiness that rivals that seen in sleep apnea and narcolepsy! I am not certain of the exact citation, but this source supports the assertion. We apparently also don’t realize we are falling asleep when we are falling asleep during our post-call periods.

>> Drinking and dancing may be dangerous for your health. And when I say “dancing”, I don’t mean Da Club two-step—I mean lindy hop. A man—a good, reliable lead—with whom I regularly dance agreed to dance with me.

“How are you?” I asked.

“A little drunk,” he blurted out. I laughed at his blunt response. “I’m just warning you.”

The song was on the fast side and the alcohol clearly had his head spinning—he stepped on me, fell into me, and inadvertently tried to lead me into several other people (follows can become human boomerangs or ninja stars, depending on the lead). Embarrassed, he stopped mid-step, realizing that he failed to catch my hand to stop my travelling. I laughed and made my way back to him in time.

“I’m sorry,” he said, the fragrance of sugary alcohol wafting from his mouth. “You’ve been trying to protect yourself from me during the entire dance.”

This was true. “But at least you warned me,” I said.

Alcohol may be a social lubricant, but it makes people slip up on the dance floor.

>> That may not actually be PCP in the pee you see. (Sorry.) When urine is subjected to toxicology screens (for cocaine, heroin, etc.), false positives may appear. PCP is apparently not a commonly-used substance in the Pacific Northwest and thus, we were advised that if we came across a urine toxicology screen that was positive for PCP, we should ask the patient if s/he had taken other substances. Guess what the substances are?

Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and dextromethorphan (cough syrup)! People do consume these substances to get high (think high school kids and other people who cannot afford alcohol) and thus, it is possible that we may see these individuals with altered mental statuses (stati?)… though people who are acutely intoxicated with PCP generally behave in highly threatening and scary ways. People high on Benadryl and cough syrup usually appear confused and disoriented.

>> Paraskavedekatriaphobia. It means “fear of Friday the 13th“. The term doesn’t appear to be official (Merriam-Webster does not recognize the word), though one can find treatments for it on the first page of a Google search. (sigh)