October 27th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs, Opinion
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There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
– Mat 10:26
The Internet may be fueling the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy – that there will come a day when nothing can be kept hidden or secret. Of course, early adopters of full transparency are regarded as reckless by some (potentially those who have something to hide?) and laudable by others (though they may be afraid to follow suit). In today’s Boston Globe there is an article about my friend and fellow blogger, Paul Levy. Paul is the CEO of Beth Israel/Deaconess, leading the charge to make hospital errors a matter of public record.
Paul writes about the errors made at his hospital (and many other subjects) in his popular medical blog, Running A Hospital. The blog won the “Best Medical Blog of 2007” award, and he is the first (and perhaps only) hospital CEO that has adopted such a high view of transparency. And for that, I commend him.
In my experience, hospital errors are alarmingly common. Read more »
October 25th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Celebrity Interviews
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Ben Vereen
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I had the pleasure of speaking with Tony-award winning actor and Broadway star, Ben Vereen about his recent diagnosis of diabetes. Ben has had an extremely accomplished career, including recent guest appearances on NBC’s Law and Order, and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. He’ll appear in an upcoming Fox feature with Patti Labelle called, “Mama, I Want To Sing” so don’t miss it.
To listen to a podcast of our interview, please click here.
Dr. Val: Ben, how exactly were you first diagnosed with diabetes?
Vereen: Unfortunately, prior to my diagnosis I didn’t recognize the signs of diabetes and didn’t understand what was causing my symptoms. I had dry mouth, frequent urination, severe thirst, sugar cravings and fainting episodes and didn’t realize they were all caused by diabetes. One day my daughter saw me pass out and she took me to the hospital. It didn’t take them long to figure out that my blood sugar was out of control. They kept me overnight and told me the next day that I had diabetes. I was shocked because I thought I was exercising regularly and eating well – it never occurred to me that I could have diabetes.
Looking back I realize that I had been told once (about 8 years ago) that I had “a touch of diabetes” but I thought it had gone away because of my good eating habits and exercise. I wish I had thought to follow up on that diagnosis and ask my primary care physician to check my blood sugar regularly.
Read more »
October 17th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Patient Interviews
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Deanna and Rebecca Sherman
As many as 15% of Americans have a blood disorder (called anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome – APS) that can increase their risk for blood clots and stroke. While these antibodies are especially common in people with certain auto-immune diseases like SLE (systemic lupus erethematosis – or “lupus”) quite a few people have them without ever knowing it. In fact, most people with APS remain asymptomatic their entire lives – but for an unlucky few, the disorder can cause devastating consequences.
I interviewed Rebecca Sherman about her recent stroke caused by APS. Listen to the podcast here.
Dr. Val: Tell me about the events leading up to your stroke.
Sherman: I was a young, healthy 32-year-old with no idea that I had anti-phospholipid antibodies in my blood. One morning when I was washing my face at my boyfriend’s house I suddenly noticed that one side of it was frozen. I was standing in front of the bathroom sink and I fell to the floor with the washcloth in my hand. I couldn’t walk or talk – the whole right side of my body didn’t do what I wanted it to do. So I threw the washcloth at my boyfriend’s head (with my left hand). Luckily my aim was good (he was asleep in bed) and the bed was near the door to the bathroom – the cold, wet object caused him to jump out of bed and find me. Read more »
October 7th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Medblogger Shout Outs
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Thanks to Dr. Cris for hosting me during my “homeless” period. Dr. Cris blogs from Australia:
Thanks to DrVal for providing this cartoon by way of a guest post. She is currently blogless and is taking a round the world blog tour. Look out for Val at a medblog near you!
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.
