Chapter 1 [Random] Flashcards
Diminutive
At the tender age of eleven, Yakov was both diminutive and wise.
Very small
Prognoses
PLURAL OF PROGNOSIS
The group had already discussed treatment plans and prognoses of four post-op patients.
A prediction of the course of a disease
TYPE OF MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS
Panhandled
He was small for his age, smaller than the other boys who panhandled in the underpass at Arbatskaya, but at eleven years old, he had already done it all.
To ask strangers for money, especially in a public place.
Airlift
“She was intubated and stabilized in the field, then airlifted here.”
TRANSPORT BY AEROPLANE
Fly people or goods to or from places not accessible by other means
Stabilized
“She was intubated and stabilized in the field, then airlifted here.”
Made stable or firm
Disarray
While washing her hands in the sink of the surgical intensive care unit, she had glimpsed herself in the mirror and had been dismayed by the smudges of fatigue under her dark eyes, by the disarray of her hair, which now hung in a tangled black mane.
Messy
Epidural
“I felt there was probable midbrain compression, most likely from an acute subdural or epidural haematoma.”
An anaesthetic (=substance that stops you feeling pain) that is put into the nerves in a person’s lower back with a special needle.
Banister
When the boy came running back downstairs clutching the tattered Shu-Shu, the woman seemed to melt in relief against the banister.
A railing at the side of the staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling
Curt
He gave Abby a curt nod.
Brief and to the point; effectively cut short
Carted off
As the story went, two days into her first rotation as an intern, her fellow intern suffered a psychotic breakdown and had to be carted off.
Remove
Catch
Misha went to the valise and unsnapped the catch.
FASTENING DEVICE
A small device on a door, window, bag, etc. that keeps it fastened
Mane
While washing her hands in the sink of the surgical intensive care unit, she had glimpsed herself in the mirror and had been dismayed by the smudges of fatigue under her dark eyes, by the disarray of her hair, which now hung in a tangled black mane.
Thick, long hair on a person’s head
Underpass
He was small for his age, smaller than the other boys who panhandled in the underpass at Arbatskaya, but at eleven years old, he had already done it all.
Type of TUNNEL
An underground tunnel or passage enabling pedestrians to cross a road or railway.
Collision
“The patient is a thirty-four-year-old Caucasian female, admitted at one this morning after a head-on collision on Route 90.”
ACCIDENT
An accident that happens when two vehicles hit each other with force.
Acute
“I felt there was probable midbrain compression, most likely from an acute subdural or epidural haematoma.”
Describing something as sharp or extremely serious
Sweltering
It was autumn already, but Boston was sweltering in the sixth day of a late September heat wave.
Extremely and uncomfortably hot
Pasty
At this hour, there were only a few patrons in the dining room, all of them wearing pasty masks of exhaustion.
(Of someone’s face/skin) very pale and unhealthy looking
Orthopaedic
“Right now he’s sitting upstairs in the orthopaedic ward whining about a few broken bones.”
The branch of medical science concerned with disorders or deformities of the spine and joints
Shorn
She stared at the woman’s head, recently shorn of hair.
Having the hair or wool cut or clipped off as if with shears or clippers
Haematoma
“I felt there was probable midbrain compression, most likely from an acute subdural or epidural haematoma.”
A localized swelling filled with blood
[Bruises are haematoma]
Post-op
The group had already discussed treatment plans and prognoses of four post-op patients.
Short for POST-OPERATIVE
After a surgical operation
Tide
While Wettig continued his exam, she felt her attention drift away on a tide of fatigue.
CHANGE
A noticable change in a situation or increase in a particular type of behaviour
Unflinching
They were too enchanted by his smallness, his blondness, his unflinching blue eyes.
Not frightened of or not trying to avoid something dangerous or unpleasant
Huddled
While the two men conducted business over vodka, the woman’s gaze wandered about the tiny flat, taking in the old army cots, the piles of dirty bedclothes, and the four boys huddled together in anxious silence.
Standing or sitting close together
Wobble
Abby felt herself wobble and melt against him.
Shake
Clipboard
Though she held a clipboard in her arms, she did not refer to her notes.
Unremarkable
The unremarkable heart.
Ordinary and not interesting
Dispassion
Though Vivian seldom spoke during attending rounds, she could always be found standing fearlessly at the very front of the group, wearing an expression of cool dispassion.
Emotionlessness
Stock
Yakov was small because he came from stunted stock.
ORIGiN
The family or group that a person or animal comes from
Compression
“I felt there was probable midbrain compression, most likely from an acute subdural or epidural haematoma.”
Pressed together
Valise
The woman, Nadiya, was a blonde, dressed in a skirt and jacket of fine wool, and she carried a hard-shelled valise.
A small overnight bag for short trips
Brunt
Yakov, being the smallest and blondest of Uncle Misha’s boys, bore the brunt of the trade.
Type of FORCE
The main force of something unpleasant
End-stage
“I’ve been following a medical patient on the teaching service. End-stage congestive failure.”
The final stage of a disease, just before death
Intubated
“She was intubated and stabilized in the field, then airlifted here.”
To insert a tube into something or someone
Enchanted
They were too enchanted by his smallness, his blondness, his unflinching blue eyes.
Liking
Transitional
“Our agency is quite familiar with transitional needs. They will stay for a while in a special school to give them time to adjust.”
Changing
Tangled
While washing her hands in the sink of the surgical intensive care unit, she had glimpsed herself in the mirror and had been dismayed by the smudges of fatigue under her dark eyes, by the disarray of her hair, which now hung in a tangled black mane.
KNOTTY
If your hair is tangled, you can’t brush or comb through it
Pick Up The Slack
Vivian was forced to pick up the slack.
To improve a situation by doing something that someone else has not done or not completed
[With our best player injured, other players have to pick up the slack.]
Scuffling
There were sounds of scuffling in the back seat.
Fighting
Subdural
“I felt there was probable midbrain compression, most likely from an acute subdural or epidural haematoma.”
Located under the outmost membrane that protects the brain.
Motor Response
“How do you interpret that, using the Glasgow coma scale for motor response?”
This is voluntary movement response to stimuli, which may be internal or external. Stimuli send an impulse to the brain
Thoracic
Mark had been a thoracic-surgery attending physician, a key surgeon on the Bayside cardiac transplant team.
Relating to the chest or thorax
Shearing Force
“But since the patient hasn’t improved, I guess that indicates a midbrain haemorrhage. It could be due to shearing forces.”
Shearing forces are unaligned forces pushing one part of the body in one specific direction, and another part of the body in the opposite direction. When the forces are aligned into each other, they are called compression forces.
Withered
They did not seem to care about Yakov’s missing left hand: indeed, most did not even notice his withered stump.
Dry and Decaying
If your skin is looking a little withered from being out in the sun all the time, it’s time for a really good moisturizer.
Benign
The benign abdomen
Not dangerous to health
On-call
She moved her belongings into the on-call room, and for twenty-nine days she did not step out of the hospital.
If a worker such as a doctor is on-call, he or she is available to work or make official visits any time when needed
Congestive
“I’ve been following a medical patient on the teaching service. End-stage congestive failure.”
Involving/producing too much blood or other liquid in an organ
[Congestive heart failure]
Lacerations
“Severe swelling and lacerations made it difficult to evaluate facial fracture.”
A cut
Scrub Suits
Eleven surgical residents now stood beside bed 11 in the SICU, forming a semiclrcle of white coats and green scrub suits around the residency chairman.
Rotation
As the story went, two days into her first rotation as an intern, her fellow intern suffered a psychotic breakdown and had to be carted off.
The act of different people doing the same job at different times
Dullard
Stepan, the dullard, grinned back.
A stupid person
Hammering
Abby felt her heart hammering.
The act of pounding
Vocation
This last vocation Yakov did not much care for, but it was something Uncle Misha insisted upon.
The particular occupation for which you are trained
Neurologic
NEUROLOGY
By the time she’d finished describing the neurologic findings, she was feeling more self-assured.
The study of nerves and the nervous system
Laconic
When Abby first heard the Vivian Chao stories, she’d had a hard time reconciling the legend with what she saw: a laconic Chinese woman who was so petite she had to stand on a footstool to operate.
Using very few words to express what you mean
Rounds
But one did not sit during Monday morning attending rounds.
A work activity that regularly involves going to several different places.
[Doctors made their daily rounds, visiting patients in the hospital.]
Wilting
As they crossed the parking lot, she could feel her last reserves of strength wilting away.
Weakening
Poised
She stood as though poised between pursuit and abandonment.
If you are poised, you’re self-posessed and in full control of your faculties. You’re balanced, grounded, and ready for action.
Cot
Every morning when he woke up in Misha’s flat, he would reach up with his one good hand and grasp the head bar of his cot.
Small, portable bed
Furrowed
“Yes.” Misha sighed and ran a hand over his furrowed face.
Frowning
Head-on
“The patient is a thirty-four-year-old Caucasian female, admitted at one this morning after a head-on collision on Route 90.”
MEETING FRONT TO FRONT
A head-on accident is one in which the fronts of two vehicles hit each other
Turning Tricks
He had been smoking cigarettes for four years, stealing for three and a half, and turning tricks for two.
Have a customer, of a prostitute
Stump
They did not seem to care about Yakov’s missing left hand: indeed, most did not even notice his withered stump.
PART LEFT
The part of something, such as a tree, tooth, arm, or leg that is left after most of it has been removed
Reconciling
When Abby first heard the Vivian Chao stories, she’d had a hard time reconciling the legend with what she saw: a laconic Chinese woan who was so petite she had to stand on a footstool to operate.
Bringing into harmory, accommodate
Respiration
“The patient has no spontaneous respirations, no spontaneous movements, and she appears to have lost all brain stem reflexes.”
Act of breathing
Stunted
Yakov was small because he came from stunted stock.
Prevented from growing or developing to the usual size.
