May 23rd, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Humor, Quackery Exposed, True Stories
Tags: Alternative Medicine, Evidence Based Medicine, Jeff Gardere, Natural Frequency Technology, Philip Stein, Press Release, Psychology, Watch
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Every once in a while, a press release comes along that’s worth mocking publically. Here’s one of them.
In honor of National Mental Health Month, one PR flack pitched Philip Stein watches. In the flack’s words: “The highlighted element of the watch is the brand’s exclusive wellness technology that helps wearers improve sleep and reduce stress. The watch is embedded with a metal disk that emits natural frequencies into the body wearer and in turn, affects the wearer’s energy field. It’s called ‘Natural Frequency Technology’ and is a new patented technology studies suggest help to improve sleep quality and reduces stress.”
Really. That’s what the flack said. Right off the bat, he’s gone from mental health issues to sleepless nights from stress. Not content with confounding the two issues, he continues: “Dr. Jeff Gardere, America’s well-known psychologist, is Chief Medical Executive for Philip Stein Watches and had been running a practice for over 20 years. He recognized during that time that there was a huge need to educate the public on the possible severities of stress and everyday lifestyle changes that everyday people can make without a prescription. Dr. Gardere found a natural way to reduce stress and prescribed his patients with a high-end accessory Philip Stein Watch.”
The psychologist “prescribed” a watch. I wonder if my insurance company would pay for that scrip? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
May 19th, 2011 by KerriSparling in Health Tips, Humor, True Stories
Tags: Diabetes, Endocrinology, Glucose, Insulin Pump, Internal Medicine, Type 1 Diabetes, Wedding Dress, Women's Health
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Yesterday I wrote about my wedding, focusing on the parts that meant the most to me: the man I love, our families and friends, the church service, saying “I do,” and dancing ourselves silly at the reception.
But diabetes was a part of my wedding day. We did our best to keep it quiet and unnoticed, though, using several tricky methods. I’m like a diabetes wedding magician … sort of.
First things first: the dress. Wearing an insulin pump is the easiest and least intrusive way for me to take my insulin, and I wasn’t about to go off the pump just for the sake of fashion. My solution? Design a pocket to hold my insulin pump, hidden in my wedding dress. I spoke with the seamstress at Ye Olde Bridal Shoppe and she and I designed something that left the pump accessible, yet hidden.
Even if you were looking for it, the pump pocket was almost impossible to find. Hidden along the seam of my wedding gown, it was held shut with a small piece of velcro. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
May 12th, 2011 by GruntDoc in Humor, True Stories
Tags: Checklist, Emergency, Emergency Medicine, Medical
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Laugh if you want, this helps my life, at least at work.
For months after starting my current gig, I would sometimes get to work with everything in all my pockets, and sometimes not.
I’d forget my ID, or my pen, or my phone, or my…well, there you go.
Then my OCD started to kick in, and, a Mental Checklist was born.
I now have to get 6 things, and set them on the table or I screw it up every time.
- ID
- stethoscope
- my phone
- work phone
- pen
- sharp stick (I’ve written about this before, but cannot find it. You should search an ER blog for the word ‘knife’ and then wonder why you bothered).
Last week I apparently went against the checklist, and halfway through the shift realized I’d lost my ID. Of course, after about a combined half-hour of fruitless search I gave up, and found it in my bag on the way out. Geez.
Yeah, it sounds stupid. But if it’s stupid and it works, it’s not stupid.
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
May 4th, 2011 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Humor, True Stories
Tags: Denied, Drug-Seeking, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Medical, Opiates, Phone Call, Phone Prescription Request, Tramadol, Vicodin
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9:00 pm:
Hello. It’s Mrs. Mumbledimumbler; I need the doctor to call me right away. My hip is driving me crazy. Please call me.
I listen to the message three times so I can sort of make out the name. The problem is that even though I think I can understand it, I don’t recognize it at all. But I call her because she said she needed me to call her right away.
Hello. I need you to call me in some tramadol right away.
“What was your name again?”
She repeats it clearly enough for me to confirm that I really don’t recognize it.
“Have I ever seen you in the office?”
No.
Let me get this straight: it’s 9:00 at night and your hip is hurting, so you call a doctor who’s a complete stranger and insist that they call you in a powerful painkiller without ever having seen you, taken your medical history, or examined you? I don’t think so.
“Um, I’m sorry ma’am, but I really can’t do that unless you’re an established patient in my office.”
Oh, okay; never mind.
I suppose I should count my lucky stars that she didn’t want vicodin.
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
May 3rd, 2011 by KerriSparling in Humor, True Stories
Tags: Children, Confessions, food, Hiding Broccoli, kids, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Tastes Change, Type 1 Diabetes, What Kids Eat
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Growing up, we had these large, potted plants in our dining room, within throwing distance from the dining room table. (Stick with me – this is an important detail.) The plants were big and had wide, draped leaves and they made the corner of the dining room look like a veritable jungle.
Also, these suckers were really convenient for hiding food.
When I was little, the “diabetic diet” school of thought was based on the exchange program. This meant that my meals were structured around my calorie needs and the needs of my (then) peaking insulin doses. An average dinner would include one meat exchange, two starch exchanges, a dairy exchange, a fat exchange, and a fruit exchange. (Exchange, exchange, exchange.) When I was on insulins like Regular, NPH, and Lente, I needed to consume these portions in proportion, or I would end up with a very high, or very low, blood sugar.
So my mother (bless her anecdotal-medical-degree’d heart) would carefully measure out these exchanges and that would be my dinner. EXACTLY one meat exchange, and those two starches, etc. She worked very hard to make sure my meals were calculated and well-balanced.
And in response, I would hide my vegetables – aka “gross things” – in the dining room plants. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
