Medical Data Poems
Poems with a
Message
The assignment for my medical
vocabulary class was to write
a story tracing the different
body parts a blood cell might
encounter as it travels to a
specific part of the body.
I figured I might be able to
write the story as a poem -
and I did !
A Blood Cell�s Story 7-5-03
Once within a vein called - pulmonary
a erythrocyte traveled and did not tarry.
Carrying oxygen from the alveoli
air sacs at the end of the bronchial tree.
Will it shoot up to cere-bell-ar heights?
Will it oxygenate the neural dendrites?
No, I think its headed for the
Blood filtering nephrons of the kidney
(The aortic juncture is the key.)
This erythrocyte is not dumb
it goes from the lungs to the Left Atrium.
Then to the Left Ventricle and the Aorta
Then to the aorta - thoracic and the abdominal aorta
(That wasn�t a true rhyme or maybe it was . . . sorta�)
Suddenly it sees some leukocytes passing by
and wonders if a bacterium might try
to invade the epidermal barrier
and get this person to become a pathogenic carrier.
Then we�d have to call a MD - right away
or perhaps a DO ( a Doctor of Osteopathy )
He would take their BP, their Temp., and pulse rate
The RX he prescribes; the body will assimilate.
But then the erythrocyte does his own Dx ( Diagnosis )
Perhaps this person has leukocytosis
Oh! There goes another leukocyte - it might have
been a basophil
Hopefully the patient soon will take a pill . . .
Well, our microscopic erythrocyte has now
entered the Abdominal Cavity
and now it is approaching the cortex of the left kidney
( high above the LE ).
So there you have it, my story is done.
The erythrocyte exchanged O2 for some CO2 -
and that for him was his kind of fun!
THE END
The Two Meter - Double Blind
- Test run Sully
The Blood - The Blood - Running Down
my Finger
Bright Red it was - One Droplet there to Linger
Over the test strip I had poised with care
The Test Strip - The Test Strip poised there
- - in the Air
Aiming the Blood was no small feat
It had to hit the strip right or I had to repeat
the whole thing again - and it wasn�t much fun
Stick my finger again and watch the Blood run.
My Glucose Meter was being checked tonight
It was coming up with numbers that didn�t seem right
My blood on the strip in the meter worked Good
130 - on the dial sounded about what it should
Then on the test meter I dropped some Blood Too!
The Dial lit up and the thing said:
"You are Screwed!"
The test meter said 170 on the screen
40 points different is all that was Seen!
Another test was tried and Blood was Got
The first meter checked it - and it was Not
What the second meter said - not by a Mile
That�s all we are going to do
- that�s the end of this Trial
Later - at Home - Later the Next Day
After the Blood and the Tears
- John threw his Meter away.
He got in the car and drove to WALMART
Found a Neat-o Meter that stole his Heart!
The Moral of this Story? - Well , it don�t got One!
I just wrote this �BLOODY� thing down to have a little Fun!
- - John - -