After a medical mistake, an apology is both simple and difficult
Elton John had it right: “It’s sad, so sad. Why can’t we talk it over. Oh, it seems to me that sorry seems to be the hardest word.”
Mistakes are all to common in medicine, but can we say the “hardest word” when we’re involved?
Example 1: There’s a diagnosis of recurrent lymphoma in the ICU. The oncologist gives a phone order for cytoxan, prednisone, and vincristine. The recorder, working a double shift, mistakenly writes the vincristine daily for 5 days similar to the prednisone order. The fatal dosage is given to the patient over the ensuing days. He dies in bone marrow f...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 14, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Physician Hospital Malpractice Source Type: blogs
I'm learning
You may call me slow sometimes but I am learning. Some medications when you start taking them have a relatively quick impact on you. You take a tylenol and your fever usually goes down and pain subsides within an hour. Antibiotics often make you feel better with in 24-48 hours.Rheumatoid medications are different. They can take months, as in 3-6 months. When I was diagnosed with RA last fall, I was immediately put on prednisone and plaquenile and we quickly learned I was allergic to both. I was then switched to oral Methotrexate (MTX). The dose was upped to the maximum in January. I started to feel a little&nbs...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 24, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: antibiotics pain levels medication rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 26-year-old man with fever and lower abdominal pain
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 26-year-old man is evaluated for a 3-day history of fever, lower abdominal pain, tenesmus, hematochezia, and watery diarrhea. Seven months ago, he underwent a cadaveric kidney transplantation. At the time of transplantation, the transplant donor was seropositive for cytomegalovirus, and the patient was seronegative for this virus. Current medications are tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, prednisone, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Valganciclovir was discontinued 1 month ago after 6 months of prophylaxis as ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 13, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Nephrology Source Type: blogs
Funny Allergy Quotes, Jokes, Stories and a List of Crazy Reactions.
If you're looking for funny allergy quotes, jokes and stories you've come to the right place. I asked my readers from facebook to provide me with their experiences they've had regarding crazy allergy reactions and they did not let me down. They relayed dozens of incidents they've experienced through the years. Over the years I've discovered several funny allergies myself, including allergies to prednisone, diet products and the color red. Some patients have dozens of allergies. My experience is that most of these allergies are not allergies in the physiological sense. The te...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - July 2, 2013 Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Tamer Mahrous Source Type: blogs
Seeing is believing
Read this wonderful tale of freedom from the bonds of wheat’s grip over appetite, as well as relief from decades of Crohn’s disease.
I am 42 years old and I work as a flight attendant. I eat an excellent diet, I exercise regularly and I live a very active lifestyle. I run approximately 30 km [about 18 miles] a week. I am 5’7” and weighed 160.2 lbs.
I have been tracking my calories using the “MyFitnessPal” app on my iPhone for over a year and I have not been able to lose the 15-20 lbs that has crept up on me in the last 10 years. I carry the extra weight from the bottom of my rib cage to my mid-thighs....
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - June 30, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Crohns disease Wheat-elimination success stories Source Type: blogs
Hot flashes no more!
Deb posted this comment in response to the Smarter, Faster, Better post describing the transformations in her brother’s life and her own health minus wheat:
After watching my 52-year-old brother drop 53 pounds in 6 months, I knew he was onto something BIG! For years he had experienced severe digestive issues, was turning into a recluse, he complained constantly about aches and pains, and he was depressed. A friend turned him onto Wheat Belly and it changed his life. Thank you for giving me my brother back! After eliminating wheat, he no longer has any digestive-colitis issues, his depression is gone (without medicati...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - June 26, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat-elimination success stories Source Type: blogs
The Last Doctor is Always the Smartest
Twice recently, I’ve been privy to patient complaints about emergency department “misdiagnoses” when patients have gone to follow up appointments with their physicians.
One case involved a young girl who had a rash. The rash was preceded by a low grade fever in the days prior, began on the chest and spread outward, and had the classic appearance of a viral exanthem. The girl’s parents weren’t happy with that diagnosis. They believed that the girl was suffering from an allergic reaction and that she needed antihistamines and steroids. The doctor explained that the rash was not an allergic-type ...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - June 17, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: WhiteCoat Tags: Patient Encounters Source Type: blogs
Rheumatoid treatment options
When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid last fall, I was already fairly aware of treatment options as my mother has had RA since 1989. The current theory for treatment is to hit it fast and early to slow progression and joint deformities.I was immediately put on plaquenile and prednisone. Plaquenile is an old drug from the 1930s or so and has successfully been proven to treat RA but it is slow working - months to have an effect - so usually prednisone is given for a brief period of time to get the swelling and pain down faster. That was bad news for me because I turned out to be allergic to both.I was then put on methot...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 12, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: treatment options stress rheumatoid arthritis Source Type: blogs
How Mixing Prednisone and Alcohol Could Have Killed Me
On the last day of my prednisone steroid treatment, I woke up covered in my own vomit. I had gotten sick overnight after having a few glasses of red wine along with the medication.Contributor: Molly GoldenPublished: May 27, 2013 (Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content)
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - May 28, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
The Best New Doctor Reaction Yet
He laughed.I went to see a physicians assistant in the rheumatology department yesterday about the bump on my arm (not on a log). He was a very nice man and spent some time talking to me.He said what I have is probably a ganglion cyst and he could stick a needle in it and drain it but it might come back. I said lymphedema arm. He said 'oops, no needle'. I said when I move my thumb around it makes it hurt more, he said I could give you a thumb splint but that would make your arm swell up.So we left it that I will monitor admire it, and if it does become problematic, I would be referred to a surgeon to see if there was anyth...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - May 3, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: treatment options ganglion cyst rheumatoid arthritis doctor appointments Source Type: blogs
Lessons Learned from a Medical Mission
Nurses can serve as excellent physician extenders.My mentors in austere medicine warned me that with an interpreter I would be lucky to see 30 patients per day. That concerned me because the local missionaries indicated at our first organizational meeting in the Dominican Republic that we were expecting to see 100 patients per day. On top of that, 100 cards were being handed out at each of the four locations we would be visiting.
As the single physician in the group of 19 team members (seven nurses), these seemed like very high expectations. Working in a setting that uses physician extenders and emergency medicine resid...
Source: M2E Too! Mellick's Multimedia EduBlog - May 2, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Wheat Belly transforms lives in New Zealand . . . and a bread recipe!
Annie posted this story of complete health turnarounds in her formerly ill parents involving diabetes/prediabetes and a condition called Wegener’s Granulomatosis:
I live in Christchurch, New Zealand, and saw you briefly on a programme called “60 Minutes” when they were discussing gluten sensitivity. My parents both had many health problems that were talked about, so I read your book and blog thoroughly and started them on the Wheat Belly diet a few months ago.
Mum is overweight and has struggled with diets all her life. She was on bendrofluazide and candesartan for blood pressure and about to start diabet...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 25, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Inflammation Wheat-elimination success stories Source Type: blogs
When the hurting won't stop: How chronic physical pain drove a Calgary teen to take his life
CALGARY – Dominic Boivin's black and brown paisley school backpack sits empty in a corner of his bedroom, near the computer chair where the Calgary teen used to play his Xbox.It's the same backpack his parents watched a police officer carry up their driveway one night last June. Behind the police officer, Dominic's body lay in a medical examiner's van. A citywide search for him was over.On June 6, 2012, Dominic "the Dominator" Boivin — a once-gifted soccer player and honour student with a lopsided grin and a gentle soul — took his life after four years of struggling against constant, mysterious, body-wide pain.At its...
Source: Psychology of Pain - March 21, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
Creating Beauty From a Life of Chronic Pain
When I sit down to write these blogs each week, my creative self often takes me to surprising places. I’ve discovered last week’s theme of finding beauty is the beginning of a series of three blogs on beauty. It certainly surprised me to find two more blogs lurking in my mind. The more I reflected on the role of this particular quality in my own life, I realized it has many ramifications. For many of us who live with daily pain, creating beauty and participating in something beautiful has been a welcoming open door into a dark room and a way out of the pain.
Naturally, when you create a beautiful photo or picture you ...
Source: Life with Chronic Pain - March 14, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Authors: Sue Falkner-Wood Tags: Pain Management creating beauty endorphins Source Type: blogs
