Medical things you didnt know until recently?

[Spinneret]

That you can die from one punch

 

[tvguy]

That no matter how many times it is noted in your chart, when in the hospital you can be given a medicine you are not supposed to take. And I knew that I had to be my own advocate, but I had just come out of 5 hours of surgery and was still recovering from anesthesia so I was not in a state of mind where I could ask what they were giving me.

 

[leebee]

That your biceps aren't just in your arms. Biceps is a term that refers to a muscle that has two points of attachment at one end. We commonly use "biceps" to refer to the biceps brachii, which are in the arms, but there are other biceps throughout the body- as I learned the hard way yesterday, when I had tendonitis in my biceps femoris, which is a muscle in the back of your thigh that helps you bend your knee and extend your hip. It's that tight tendon you can feel on the back of your knee, on the outside edge, and makes up part of the hamstring group (also news to me, that the "hamstring" is actually a group of 3 muscles). Funny the things one learns when rehabbing from total knee replacement!

 

[leebee]

That no matter how many times it is noted in your chart, when in the hospital you can be given a medicine you are not supposed to take. And I knew that I had to be my own advocate, but I had just come out of 5 hours of surgery and was still recovering from anesthesia so I was not in a state of mind where I could ask what they were giving me.

As long as I am telling stories from Knee Rehab World... I have been having muscle spasms from an old back injury that has flared up due to having to sit with my leg straight, ankle elevated above knee level. Phoned the doc's office, asked for a refill of my Flexeril script. The robo-call came from the pharmacy saying it was ready, so DH was dispatched. There was a red flag on the new prescription and a pharmacist was called to "talk" with DH. My doc didn't refill my flexeril script; she instead filled a script for robaxin, which is a sedative and strongly contra-indicated when also taking oxycodone for pain. The doc who wrote the script for robaxin is the SAME doc who wrote the script for the codeine! SO YES, one MUST self-advocate, and I am really glad the pharmacy caught this. Would it have killed me? Probably not. Do I want to take that chance? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

 

[luv2cheer92]

As someone who works in the medical field, I am often incredibly amazed at how little most people know about their own body (anatomy, physiology, medicine, etc. not specifically their body).

 

[tvguy]

As someone who works in the medical field, I am often incredibly amazed at how little most people know about their own body (anatomy, physiology, medicine, etc. not specifically their body).

Only reason I caught it at all was 4 days later I was going through all the notes from my hospital stay and caught it. My Doctor's put all my information online. No idea why I happened to start reading the notes from my chart. I had a follow up visit with the Doctor who prescribed it, and told it I had made sure that drug was on my list of medicines I could not take. I read my after visit summary and he made note of the issue and that I had taken action to prevent it from happening again. A few days later I was at another specialist and I mentioned the issue. He took time to review my massive chart and said he had never heard of this issue and that is why he wanted to take time and research my chart. It is a very very rare issue with this medication, but it has been documented in other patients.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

That SSRI antidepressants can all too often result in the patient becoming asexual, sometimes permanently!

 

[C&Jx2]

That no matter how many times it is noted in your chart, when in the hospital you can be given a medicine you are not supposed to take. And I knew that I had to be my own advocate, but I had just come out of 5 hours of surgery and was still recovering from anesthesia so I was not in a state of mind where I could ask what they were giving me.

Sometimes this is a risk versus benefit situation or people not having a good understanding of certain medications. For instance... Someone may be allergic to a certain class of antibiotics but can be given them under close monitoring with say IV Benadryl running or on standby. Or they can be given newer generations of said class.


I work in the medical field and I learn things all the time! This isn't new to me but one of the most interesting things I've learned:
When someone has a craniectomy (removing a portion of the skull) sometimes that bone plate is stored in the patient's abdomen until they're ready to replace it (cranioplasty). It's wild to feel one!

 

[tvguy]

Sometimes this is a risk versus benefit situation or people not having a good understanding of certain medications. For instance... Someone may be allergic to a certain class of antibiotics but can be given them under close monitoring with say IV Benadryl running or on standby. Or they can be given newer generations of said class.


I work in the medical field and I learn things all the time! This isn't new to me but one of the most interesting things I've learned:
When someone has a craniectomy (removing a portion of the skull) sometimes that bone plate is stored in the patient's abdomen until they're ready to replace it (cranioplasty). It's wild to feel one!

I became aware of the procedure to store the bone plate in the patients abdomen when ABC Anchor Bob Woodruff was nearly killed in an explosion in 2006. That is what they did with him before flying him back to the U.S. ABC did stories on it at the time.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

That appendix cancer is a thing.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I learned two things this week: one leaf of an oleander can kill a human being and Vicks VapoRub will cure toenail fungus.

 

[Dznypal]

Interesting about the vapor rub does it really work. Any details on how this actually works like how often I’d like to give this a try before I go to the dr. Thanks

 

[C&Jx2]

Interesting about the vapor rub does it really work. Any details on how this actually works like how often I’d like to give this a try before I go to the dr. Thanks

It probably suffocates the fungus. Clear nail polish does the same for ringworm and works must faster than the anti fungal meds.

 

[NannyBeBe]

Interesting about the vapor rub does it really work. Any details on how this actually works like how often I’d like to give this a try before I go to the dr. Thanks

I went to my doctor about a different issue with my foot and she noticed that I had toenail fungus. She told me to apply VapoRub to my nails every night and wear socks. She did say that it can take a long time to work.

 

[momz]

The red and white of a barber pole symbolizes blood and bandages

 

[Christine]

I went to my doctor about a different issue with my foot and she noticed that I had toenail fungus. She told me to apply VapoRub to my nails every night and wear socks. She did say that it can take a long time to work.

Yep, you have to apply it until the nail fully grows out. White vinegar applied 2 times a day will do the same.

 

[OhMari]

I have Gastroparesis which is an auto immune disease and a a living nightmare. It is having the stomach flu permanentl. I would never wish it on my worst enemy. Yes, you need to be your own advocate. The pharmacy does not check if you are on a medicine and you need to take another medicine. I ended up taking 2 meds that produced too much .Seratoni. I was holding my heart because it hurt so bad. Then the same hospital gave me an IV bag to rehydrate and gave me more Zofran and Raglan at the same time. It was noted on MyChart, that I could not have neither. I literally could not breathe and was gasping for air. They gave me Benedryl, which hardly touched it. A nurse held my hand and did deep breathing with me and walking to get me thru it. And the real kicker, the insurance would not pay the ER D. For his screw up, they wanted me to file a lawsuit. The hospital coded it, so I did not have to pay and neither did my insurance.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I have Gastroparesis which is an auto immune disease and a a living nightmare. It is having the stomach flu permanentl. I would never wish it on my worst enemy. Yes, you need to be your own advocate. The pharmacy does not check if you are on a medicine and you need to take another medicine. I ended up taking 2 meds that produced too much .Seratoni. I was holding my heart because it hurt so bad. Then the same hospital gave me an IV bag to rehydrate and gave me more Zofran and Raglan at the same time. It was noted on MyChart, that I could not have neither. I literally could not breathe and was gasping for air. They gave me Benedryl, which hardly touched it. A nurse held my hand and did deep breathing with me and walking to get me thru it. And the real kicker, the insurance would not pay the ER D. For his screw up, they wanted me to file a lawsuit. The hospital coded it, so I did not have to pay and neither did my insurance.

Pharmacists are absolutely supposed to be checking your medications when you get a new prescription. If yours isn't doing that, I would go to a different pharmacy

 

[C&Jx2]

Pharmacists are absolutely supposed to be checking your medications when you get a new prescription. If yours isn't doing that, I would go to a different pharmacy

Yep. Meds go through a whole system of administration, especially in the hospital setting. The providers, pharmacists, nurses who administer it... Yikes. Sorry that happened to you Mari. At the very least the administering nurse should have questioned it with the provider/pharmacy.

 

[jerrywilliams]

I didn't know before that it is very important to read detailed description of all the drugs you need to take.
It is even better if you do it before you order the medication, for example on Canadian Pharmacy website.
Some of the side effects can be very strong and ruin the whole progress from the meds itself.