Digital Evacuation

This finger has boldly gone where no normal finger had gone before!



While we are still on the pelvic region, let me relate my early experience on digital evacuation. An elderly bedbound gentleman was admitted to the ward and the family was complaining that he had not moved his bowels (means never shit lah) for the past few days. A previous Dr who had examined him noted that his faeces were impacted (means stuck liao loh).

Nurse: Dr Og, you need to do a digital evacuation for that patient.
Newbie (feign ignorance): huh? simi digital evacuation.
Nurse: digital like your finger and evacuation like dig !!?
Newbie: yah yah, but can't nurses do that??
Nurse (pek chek liao): NO, this type of thing only Dr can do. Your Consultant order one.

Threatened by the nurse, I had no choice but to go up to the poor old man. I put on my latex glove and inserted my digit ( index finger lah). The poor man who was unable to communicate verbally let out a loud groan. The initial disgust in me soon dissipated when I realised that hard brown stool were not unlike gardening soil. Being an avid garderner, this was not too difficult after all!
Finally I was done. I pulled out my digit in pride that I have helped this old patient. It was only then that I discovered my glove was torn and what was I to find on my digit! SHIT!

Moral of the story: always double glove!!! (applies for condoms as well I guess hahaha)