November 21st, 2011 by Dr. Val Jones in Quackery Exposed, True Stories
Tags: Alternative Medicine, Coumadin, Death, Deep Venous Thrombosis, DVT, Heparin, Herbal Medicines, Pulmonary Embolism
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Photo Credit: Mark Crislip, M.D.
During a recent trip, I met a woman whose father had just passed away. When she discovered that I was a physician, she decided to tell me the sad story of the events leading up to his death. She gave me permission to share the story on my blog so long as I did not identify her or her family by name. For the purposes of the story, I’ll refer to the woman as Sue, and her father as Frank.
Frank was a healthy, robust man, descended from a long line of nonagenerians. Everyone assumed that he would live well into his 90’s – at least 30 more good years. One day Frank began having some leg pain, which he ignored as long as he could. Sue noticed him limping around a week later and decided to take him to see a physician. As it turned out, Frank had a deep venous thrombosis (or blood clot) in his leg, caused by a previously undiagnosed, mild genetic clotting disorder. The physicians treated him with heparin to prevent the clot from expanding, and prescribed coumadin to protect him from having the clot travel to his lungs – a condition (pulmonary embolism) that carries with it a high risk of death.
While researching his new medicines, Frank came upon an alternative medicine website. The site warned people against taking coumadin (stating that it was “a form of rat poison”) and offering herbal supplements instead. Frank decided to stop taking his coumadin, and purchased the alternative medicine from the website. Two weeks later he Read more »
November 19th, 2011 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Opinion, True Stories
Tags: 1990s, Beeper, Cell Phone, Medical Student, On-Call, PDA, Smart Phones, Technology, Vibrating
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It’s funny what we remember. As a 3rd year medical student rotating in surgery I remember quite clearly sitting in my attending’s office at Worcester Memorial Hospital. He was a vascular surgeon. I don’t remember his name. On this particular day I had followed him to his office after rounds. He had just received his new pager and placed a call to whomever had sent him the device.
It seemed there was a problem. The device lacked the latest pager feature: vibration. His current pager only beeped. The dialog centered around his on-call demands as a vascular surgeon and his love for the symphony. With a buzzing pager he Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
November 16th, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Back Pain, Big Breasts, Breast Reduction, Chest, Complications, Cosmetic Surgery, Cost, Decision, Disagreement, Infection, Large, Operation, Plastic Surgery, Problem, Procedure
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Jeanette’s story:
For as long as I can remember my nickname has been ‘Jen Big Boobs’. Friends joke that the first thing they see when I walk through the door is my chest. I know they mean no harm – just as I know that my husband, Steve, adores them – but it’s reached the point where they have got to go. They simply dominate my life. Whether I’m trying to get comfy in bed or walking down the street I can’t forget them for a moment. They are always there, getting in the way of everything I do. In primary school I was the first in class to wear a bra. So when my pals changed in the classroom for PE, I’d change in the loos. Big boobs weren’t a huge surprise – they run in my family. But it was embarrassing and I didn’t like being different. They’ve singled me out for loads of attention. Buying bras has always been and still is a nightmare. I have to order specially-made ones that are ugly and cost up to £50. By the time I was 20 I’d already gone to see my GP about a reduction operation. He was sympathetic but said I was too young for surgery.
Steve’s story:
I love my wife’s big boobs and don’t want them reduced. I don’t mind admitting that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
November 16th, 2011 by DeborahSchwarzRPA in True Stories
Tags: Autoimmune Hepatitis, Columbia Surgery, Donate, Hepatitis, Liver, Liver Disease, Love, Marriage, Patient Stories, Relationship, Transplant
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When Megan Ellerd and Steven Ferretti met seven years ago, it was “instant love,” she says. Not long after, the young couple found out that Steven had autoimmune hepatitis — but they didn’t worry too much about it, hoping that it wouldn’t affect them until much later in life. In 2008, however, the two were happily engaged when Steven’s condition suddenly took a turn for the worse. His liver was failing, and he needed a transplant.
Although Steven had severe liver disease and was experiencing painful symptoms such as ascites (fluid buildup in the abdomen), he would have had to become deathly ill in order to qualify for a donor organ from the transplant waiting list. For a couple with a wedding to plan and a bright future ahead, the prospect of Steven spending many months, if not years, in progressively worsening health was just not an option. For Megan, the choice was clear. She had known from the beginning that she would donate part of her liver to him if she could — and when testing Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Columbia University Department of Surgery Blog*
November 11th, 2011 by BruceCampbellMD in True Stories
Tags: Access to medical care, Anxiety, Cancer, Comfort Zone, Electrical Power, Head and Neck Cancer, Kenya, Mass, Operating Room, Surgery, Tumor, Unknown
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Traveling makes one modest – you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.
-Gustave Flaubert
We have come to Kenya, expecting to work outside of our “comfort zones.”
Our patient has arrived from miles away, riding on the back of her husband’s bicycle. She has an enlarging, bleeding mass growing off of the side of her neck. There are no pathologists available, so we are uncertain what kind of tumor it is, although it appears to be a cancer. She has been wearing a scarf to hide the mass for the past year; her head covering is speckled with blood.
We are anxious. Unexpected things can happen in an operating room this far from home. We expect Read more »
