October 20th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Patient Interviews
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Most people assume that the flu is an inconvenience – an infection that causes a week of fevers, body aches, and discomfort. But it can be far more serious than that. In some cases, the virus can be fatal. I interviewed Joe Lastinger about the tragic loss of his 3 and-a-half year-old daughter to influenza. You can listen to our interview here.
Dr. Val: I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter’s death from influenza. Can you tell me a little bit about the events that led up to it?
Joe: The events were pretty unremarkable, until she died suddenly. Emily was three and a half at the time and had just started pre-school. One day she came home from school and she was very tired. She wanted to take a nap. Normally she didn’t take naps so we knew something was different. We took her to the pediatrician the next day and she was diagnosed with the flu. We were counseled to give her fluids, Tylenol and Motrin around the clock to control her fever, and to expect it to resolve in about a week.
However, Emily began experiencing more nausea a few days in. We contacted the pediatrician and she asked us a series of questions about her symptoms – but since she was urinating regularly, wasn’t having bloody vomit, or any other serious symptoms we were reassured. The next day my wife was in the kitchen (near the bedroom where she had left Emily) and I heard her scream. She found Emily on the ground, not breathing. We called 911 and the paramedics were able to get her heart started. She was transferred to the local children’s hospital, and was intubated. Unfortunately there was never any sign of brain activity and they slowly maxed out all the drugs they were giving her to keep her alive.
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October 14th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
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Photo Credit: CBS News
I have a friend who works with Katie Couric and he sent me this announcement today. You may be interested in tuning in tonight to hear more specifics about McCain and Obama’s views on HIV/AIDS in America. As for me, I’ll be attending a lecture about our two party system at the National Archives. Thank goodness for TiVo.
Tonight on the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” Medical Contributor Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on where each presidential candidate stands on AIDS in America. There is a new infection every 9.5 minutes and an AIDS related death every 33 minutes with 1.2 million Americans who carry the virus. Yet HIV / AIDS is America’s “forgotten epidemic,” as the nation spends almost $10 billion annually to fight AIDS abroad, but less than 10 percent of that here at home. Dr. Gupta will explore how Senators McCain and Obama intend to stop the epidemic and how they plan to care for those living with this deadly disease. For all the candidates answers, tune in tonight at 6:30 p.m. EST.
This is part of an ongoing weekly series of in-depth reports called “Where They Stand” CBS News will continue to examine how each candidate proposes to solve America’s most pressing problems, from the economy to foreign policy to immigration to health care to education to energy to the environment to the country’s infrastructure to homeland security, among others.
October 7th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs
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Thanks to Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel/Deaconess hospital in Boston, for hosting me at Running A Hospital. Here is an excerpt of my post:
I took a beginning Spanish course at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, about ten years ago. One day I was at a local grocery store, picking through some apples and oranges when I noticed several women looking at me with utter disgust. I couldn’t imagine what was bothering them and returned their gaze with an innocent shrug.
“Sucio!” [dirty] uttered one under her breath. And the women shook their heads and pushed their shopping carts away from me in a huff.
My mind went into overdrive trying to figure out what I could possibly have done that was so utterly distasteful…
To read the rest of the post, please click here.
October 7th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs
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While I was “homeless” my blogging friends kindly invited me to guest post at their websites. Allen Roberts (aka GruntDoc) posted this for me:
As many of my close followers know, I’m “in between blogs” at the moment. My new website has not launched yet, so I’ve asked a few close friends if I could guest-blog at their sites until further notice. Dear Grunt Doc actually offered me a password and authority to post directly to his blog. Now that’s trusting! I mean, I could fill up his site with LOLcats posts if I wanted.
A few blog-hijacking fantasies later, I decided to ask myself – “What sort of content would be appropriate to contribute to an Emergency Medicine blog?” The answer, of course, is “real photos of anything gross.”
And as luck would have it, I do have a nice photo of something gross (albeit mildly so). Even better, it’s my own grossness so there’s no HIPAA violation looming. What is it? Well, it’s the sadistic work of a dermatologist. (By the way, dermatologists have the best photo galleries of really gory conditions).
Let me explain…
Click here to read the rest of the post.
September 18th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Celebrity Interviews
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Methacillin resistant staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) is a deadly bacterium that is becoming more and more common inside and outside the hospital setting. No one is immune, not even babies like this one who died from an unknown exposure. Seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill has also experienced the ravages of MRSA. I interviewed him about his near-death experience.
Dr. Val: Tell me about your recent experience with a severe staph infection.
Grant: I got my MRSA infection in 2003, afterI had a surgery on my ankle in the hospital. I had never heard of MRSA before and it was a very scary ordeal(at certain points, I didn’t think I was going to make it)and it took me a long time to recover. Dealing with my own infection made me realize just how severe MRSA could be. I want to make sure others do not have to go through what I went through. I got lucky with my infection because the doctors recognized it and we were able to treat it. I will always have scars on my ankle from the infection, so I never really forget what I went through and how lucky I was to survive.
Dr. Val: How common are staph infections among basketball players?
Grant: I don’t know exact statistics regarding basketball players, but the scary thing is, now it’s not just in hospitals. Now you’re finding MRSA infections in community settings like gyms, schools, homes and locker rooms. So there is definitely a need for conversation about this, and also about ways to prevent it.
Dr. Val: As an insider, what kind of behaviors have you observed that might put players at higher risk for contracting MRSA?
Grant: One thing I have learned through all of my injuries is that tomorrow is never really promised. As athletes there are so many ways that we can get injured, we can’t underestimate something like MRSA, especially because there are easy ways to prevent it. It’s important for players to know that MRSA can be spread by sharing athletic equipment, towels and razors. To help stop the spread of MRSA in locker rooms and on sports teams, players need to wash their hands frequently and stick to using their own personal items. They also need to know that when working out, they should keep a towel down between them and shared equipment. When it comes to locker room surfaces, those should be disinfected with a bleach solution. I am very conscious of all these prevention methods in my life, because I realize how important the prevention side of it is.
Dr. Val: Now that you’ve had a staph infection, what precautions do you take to prevent re-infection?
Grant: All those little things my mom used to tell me to do still ring true. I make sure to wash my hands frequently and cover any of my cuts -I keep a whole stash of bandages in my locker. I also keep my towels to myself and disinfect with a bleach solution, that’s really easy to make. It only takes a few minutes out of my day to take these steps, but I know first-hand that it can make a world of difference. You know, I often find myself telling my daughters the same things because as a father, it is important that I keep my family safe and healthy.
Dr. Val: What should athletes know about MRSA and what advice do you have for them?
Grant: Athletes of all ages should be encouraged to hit the court or the field and have a good time while remembering the easy prevention steps. Because I have spent so much time not playing, due to injury, I am having so much fun just playing. Everyone should remember that theycan help prevent the spread of MRSA easily, so no one has to waste time on the sidelines.
Dr. Val: What’s the most important thing that you’d like to tell Americans about MRSA?
Grant: Wow, how much time do you have? I really want people to realize that MRSA is a serious infection. As I’ve mentioned, before I got it and I hadn’t even hear about it. My ordeal really opened my eyes to this and that it can affect anyone! The scary truth is that more deaths each year are caused by MRSA than AIDS. But, there are easy things people can do to help reduce the spread of MRSA. This includes: washing your hands frequently, not sharing your personal items like towels and disinfecting with a bleach solution. There is more information and tips about how to prevent getting MRSA, including a playbook of prevention, at stopmrsanow.org.
*This post was originally published at my other blog site – URL pending*
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
Most people assume that the flu is an inconvenience – an infection that causes a week of fevers, body aches, and discomfort. But it can be far more serious than that. In some cases, the virus can be fatal. I interviewed Joe Lastinger about the tragic loss of his 3 and-a-half year-old daughter to influenza. You can listen to our interview here.
