Comments for WhiteCoat Rants

Comment on Drug Seekers Suck by sandee

sandee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:22:14 +0000

Nurse K.
I have read alot of your post and I have to say that your what one would call a burned out *** that needs to retire and let someone with some compassion for Pt’s and passion for their job take your sorry place!

Comment on A Loophole for Medical Bankruptcy by maxina

maxina — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:53:42 +0000

There are people who are not irresponsible and have awful things happen to them. At 21 I was diagnosed with a heart defect that would have killed me within a year with out open heart surgery. I was healthy as an ox for the first part of my life and the bam dying. So tell me why I should have to live with all my money going to medical bills and never get to move on? If medical prices were not so jacked up I would have been able to afford most of it!

Comment on Describing The Pain Scale by FrankieB2

FrankieB2 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:57:45 +0000

I forgot to mention (June 30) that I take morphine and Norco for pain and Robaxin for muscle spasms 4 times a day just to achieve something approximating “normal.” Plus Neurontin for nerve pain, tingling and numbness from my knees down. I tried Lyrica for a while but that caused horrible constipation; worse than even morphine alone causes. It took 2 weeks to taper off of Lyrica, which only prolonged the agony of it.

Comment on Describing The Pain Scale by Tracy

Tracy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:12:11 +0000

I think your scale is invalid. I writhe quietly. I go very still and quiet when suffering severe pain. I speak softly. You might notice clenched teeth. You might notice my white-knuckled grip on something, anything. I suffered 3rd degree burns, untreated, and said ow. I smashed a hand under a 400 pound tool rack and quietly stabilized it while the stars went from white to black, managed to get to a couch with 50% of my field of vision gone black. I suffered whiplash and finished the race. And I am cute and have big bazongas and doctors think I am too sheltered, too privileged to experience pain so stoicly. Docs need to check your assumptions.

If I were experiencing a 9, you bet your boots I’d be on the phone, clearing my calendar, making sure the house is secured and the business is squared away because a 9 doesn’t turn into a nice, tolerable 7 overnight and I’ve got a responsibility to others to take care of business. I might nibble some corn chips, too, if I thought my body needed fuel to heal with. I am expert at blocking, at distracting myself, and have passed out from ignored pain. I think docs should ask the patient to define 10 themselves, and scale from there. To me, 10 is such severe and extensive injuries that death is imminent. To others, 10 is pain severe enough to invoke tears. I do not cry.

Comment on Describing The Pain Scale by FrankieB2

FrankieB2 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:17:38 +0000

I’ve been hospitalized 5 times with aseptic meningitis (caused by an immune disorder called sarcoidosis), which is the mother of all headaches, and a few false alarms. I know that if I show up in an ED and say I suspect I have meningitis again it means I get another spinal tap (lumbar puncture). After 13 of them, they don’t scare me anymore. Plus, I’ve broken my back twice (didn’t know it was broken for 3 weeks the first time but knew it instantly the second time) and had 5 major spinal surgeries in 7 years and the fusion of L5-S1 has gone bad and causes the worst pain I’ve ever known when I try to get out of bed. It restricts every movement I attempt. My pain doc says he takes “10″ to mean we belong in the hospital. So between meningitis and a broken back, I can accurately gauge when I’m at 10 and, in fact, do need to go to the hospital, again.

Comment on Describing The Pain Scale by bdoane

bdoane — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:37:56 +0000

i had a fracture in my right tibia shaped liked a tee p that went all the way through my growth plate in my right ankle with ligament damage. hows that for pain, in the first hour it swelled to transparancy of the skin about the size of a head of lettuce. and dont know about anyone else but i’ll take labor pain over that any day my ankle was bigger than a baby’s head. drained blood and all i cried for so long that i lost 5 lbs in 2 days hospitilized for dehydration. 1000mg vicodin 1000mg ibprofen didnt stop any pain and i never did drugs. Labor pain, kidney stones, had one dont make me laugh

Comment on Narcotic “Allergies” by crys

crys — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:05:17 +0000

i have been told that i am allergic to codine so far i have had very bad reactions to tylenol 3, vicodin, darvocet, and was ok with percocet until now.. seems i am able to take them a few times just fine, but then after a few times of taken any of them my eyes swelled shut.. no other major problems then that.. but i am told that is an allergy and have run out of things i can get for pain other then tramadol which looses its affectiveness really fast!

Comment on Describing The Pain Scale by bill

bill — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:41:28 +0000

I have been going to a pain clinic for 5 plus years now. pain is a part of life that never completely goes away. I take morphine 6 times a day to get by,not to be pain free. In my visits to many drs and nurses my response to what a 10 is on the scale ,my reply is when you reach 10 you pull the trigger.I hope I never come to that but have been close in the past.You have to love the government and dea for the stupidity in pain treatment. Many drs are scared to death to have the dea nosing around their records and losing their practice!

Comment on Keep Your Shoes On, Buddy by Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:41:15 +0000

I remember them teaching in CPR that someone could swallow their tongue and decades later them saying that it can’t be done. People say “God bless you” when you sneeze since they think evil spirits are trying to take over your body. Medical experts say that sunlight prevents cancer and that sunlight causes cancer. The Mercola website says that about soybeans.

Comment on Blog Links by mkirschmd

mkirschmd — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:04:57 +0000

http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com

Physician blog devoted to medical quality. Candid and controversial postings from a practicing physician.
If you are kind enough to link, I suggest the commentary category.