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.
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.
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.
