ask and ye shall.
Last night, I had dinner with my good friend Sharon, who has twice been treated for breast cancer. She's well now but we got to talking about asking for help during treatment.We both had teams of people, providing all kinds of support during our health care crises. We were fed, entertained and accompanied to appointments. My kids were distracted and cared for, my dog was walked. My friends even paid to make sure that someone would come and clean my house while I was recovering from surgery.To me, feeling healthy and strong again means requiring a lot less help. I speak with my oncologist over the phone. I breeze through ec...
Source: Not just about cancer - April 18, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer lucky brain metastasis herceptin community my friends my love fear conversations cancer blog good stuff my kids Source Type: blogs
branscannr on drugs
Which is better: the generic or the name brand? Now drug companies have a tool to test out the moods induced by the name of their latest drug.brainscannrfree brain scans for everyone! Over thirty million served! 1Let's start with some benzodiazepines!brainscannr resultsThis is your true brain, the emotions that run your life!Uh oh, not so great for lorazepam. How about for the name brand, Ativan?There. Don't you feel more relaxed now?Moving right along to some atypical antipsychotics. Let's start with olanzapine.Hmm, no psychiatrist wants to see a strip of skulls down their patient's postcentral gyrus. Not to mention a fro...
Source: The Neurocritic - April 10, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Brinksmanship
I hate it when I think of the best retort ten minutes after the conversation has ended...
She had enough. Her son said many times that he didn't want to live this way. Intubated, disfigured with tubes and lines, and riddled with small satellites of cancer throughout his body, he was no longer recognizable. Her voice was unwavering.
Remove the tube.
It was the right decision even though there were signs of improvement. The last vestiges of sepsis had pushed the kidneys into oblivion. The lungs moaned against the ventilator and refused to open. Yet the fever had resolved and th...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 4, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
Healthcare's Dumping Ground?
I couldn't really blame the social worker. He was just doing his job. The SNF unit connected to the hospital was full of flailing patients. So he thought he would ask for a palliative care consult (after getting an okay from the primary team). It was his third request of the day. He spoke slowly as he tried to untangle the twisted path the patient had taken.
Dr. X was managing poor old failure to thrive before he came to the hospital. But then Dr. Y, the hospitalist, admitted him and treated the urinary tract infection. Dr. Z was covering Dr. W on the cardiology side. A...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 2, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
The Last Patient of a Long Night Shift
By Birdstrike M.D.
My first night shift in a stretch of 7 was almost over. It was 6:15 a.m. and I had to keep moving otherwise the minute I would stop, my eyelids would drop like two ton shades and I’d fall asleep. That never makes for a good drive home after a night shift.
“Got time to see one more?” asked Jenny the nurse.
“Do I have choice? The door-to-doctor time storm-troopers would have it no other way,” I grunted back, eye lids drifting closed.
“Febrile seizure,” it said.
Good, this should be quick and easy, I think to myself. We’ll give some Tylenol, reassess in 30 minutes and this b...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - February 17, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Birdstrike Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Medications that Increase the Risks of Patient Falls
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older.
Alzheimer's Reading Room
“Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don’t – perhaps two to three times greater,” said Susan Blalock, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
In 2007, more than 21,700 Americans died as a result of falls and more than 7.9 million were injured by a fall including over 1.8 million older adults who had a fall-rela...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - February 14, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Electronic Health Record Safety
On December 21, 2012, ONC issued its Health IT Patient Safety Action & Surveillance Plan for public commentI was interviewed by the Boston Globe about the plan.Although EHRs address a variety of safety concerns such as unreadable orders/prescriptions, drug/drug interaction checking, and fostering care coordination, they can create new problems that did not exist with paper. These problems are rare (less than 1% of quality issues reported), but they are important.For example, a clinician writing a paper prescription for Atenolol, a beta blocker used for cardiovascular diseases, would be unlikely to accident...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 7, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Source Type: blogs
Best Post of July 2012: "Chasing The Dragon": A Cause of Toxic Spongiform Leukoencephalopathy
The next in our "Best of the Month" series comes from July 10, 2012:My favorite case from the 2012 AANP Diagnostic Slide Session in Chicago last month featured an autopsy slide from the brain of a 25-year-old man with a history of polysubstance abuse found unresponsive at a New Year's Eve party. Toxicology screening was positive for methadone, lorazepam, and cocaine. The patient died after three weeks in the intensive care unit. Attendees were provided glass slides in advance of the session demonstrating the following findings:Low Power: Marked white matter pallorHigh Power: White matter virtually replaced by lipidized...
Source: neuropathology blog - January 1, 2013 Category: Pathologists Tags: toxic encephalopathy meetings Best of the Month series neuropathologists Source Type: blogs
Wow! It's been 5 years since I've been poisoned
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Source: Sharing My Cancer Crapness - June 20, 2012 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: blogs
I’m not quite sure what this rhythm is…
“Umm, can I have a doc in this room? ”
The nurse was casual and collected. But anytime a nurse asks, “Can I have a doc in here?” you can be pretty certain there is some excitment in your near future.
She & I alternated glances between the patient and the monitor.
Patient: awake but confused. Monitor: Rapid heart rate, undetermined rhythm.
The nurse said, “I thought she may have been in vfib for a second, but she looks OK now.” For a brief moment I felt all knowledge leave my brain. I was unable to neatly categorize this patient into a diagnostic box. We knew nothing about...
Source: Mr. Hassle's Long Underpants - December 19, 2010 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Doc Shazam Tags: Clinical Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
