Friday, March 4, 2011

Attention patients!

When I ask if you're taking Coumadin, PLEASE remember that you are BEFORE I start putting needles in you for an EMG, not suddenly saying "Oh, wait, I think I am taking Coumadin" as blood goes flying everywhere.

Thank you.

26 comments:

Headstrong said...

Mmm. Good point.

Anonymous said...

People do that with allergies all the time too.

"Oh, so you're allergic to penicillin and bactrim." Then MD writes up a script for levaquin instead. Later that day I have to call up the doctor, letting them know about the quinolone allergy the patient didn't report and the patient is reacting to it.

Anonymous said...

Holy Shit, EMG Man! I have had that AWFUL test a few times and I bled like a stuffed pig and I am not on Coumadin (postive,I am not taking it)? The scene must have been like a murder!

Mickey said...

You wanted me to tell you if I consume rat poison? Oh, well that' different ...

Moose said...

Today on Jackson Pollack Medical Theatre...

Unknown said...

Reminds me of this recall....

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08046.html

Really?!!

Anonymous said...

I hope you caught that on camera for "America's Funniest Medical Videos."

pharmacy chick said...

I have asked people, "Are you taking coumadin?" to have them tell me "No" only to learn later they are taking warfarin ..aaargh in our generic labeled culture, people often just dont know that a=b

I have since learned to ask" Are you taking any Coumadin, warfarin or blood thinners?"

w8ng2retirerph said...

ha. similar to a lady i gave a flu shot to that failed to tell me about her hemophilia til after i was scrambling for anything absorbent, short of my shirt. the little cotton ball i was usually armed with didn't hold up very long. since then, i've learned my lesson. nothing compared to that lady's bleeding.

watercolordaisy said...

ack! That's why I keep a list of all my drugs and dosages on my iphone and when ever any doc asks about them, I hand them the list. soooo helpful.

Anonymous said...

plavix and the new dabigatrin are worse. but for those who care, epinephrine in the local pretty much quiets coumadin effect as long as anatomic bleeders are controlled.

Anonymous said...

This message has been brought to you by the makers of Shop-Vac.

Cthulhu Sashimi said...

It breaks my heart to see this kind of waste when there are so many starving vampires out there.

ERP said...

Wow. Can neurologists handle blood?!?

Not House said...

It's like that scene in The Shining when the elevator doors open.

bogart said...

Seems like a good argument for electronic medical records. I know, one should be able to remember if one's on Coumadin. But it always astonishes me that (e.g.) a physician I'm seeing for an emergency imagines that I can accurately remember when my last tetanus shot was. Really?

Mrs A said...

at least it wasnt a cvc!

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize that people normally bleed with that kind of test. I had an EMG nerve conduction study done on my right arm/ hand three years ago - Carpal tunnel. I don't remember there being any bleeding, just some good jolts and shocks to the muscles...

Was this a different kind of test that you were doing?

jimbo26 said...

Oops . :-)

Kat's Kats said...

::head:laptop:repeat:: There's a reason I keep my med list in my wallet & purse (it also gives all of my physicians & their numbers along with emergency contacts yada yada). ::sigh::

tranu - what everyone with a brain wishes they could do with those who are unable to be trained.

Anonymous said...

I'm leakey (no Coumadin needed), so I tend to ooze a little w/ needle sticks. My neurologist, who was performing an EMG on me, exclaimed when he got blood on his white uniform (Navy) shirt. Horrified, he asked "how am I going to get this out"? First I asked him if he was really a doctor, and then I told him to check w/ his wife who would know how to get blood out. Fail.

Anonymous said...

no, 1239, you are different than the grumpy patient.

Aleigh said...

Eeesh.... If I get blood on my clothes (period flow can sometimes be stronger than I expect) I just dump them in the washer. Never had a stain remain after that.

The Mother said...

So the other day hubby was examining a new patient. Any surgeries? Nope.

So, how did he forget the stem to stern median sternotomy scar on his chest?

I think I may need to change the focus of my blog. I'm starting to collect a trove of these.

Kat's Kats said...

Anon 0506 - Obviously Laundry 101 wasn't covered in his curriculum. My youngest will turn 15 on the 24th. He already knows not only how to do his own laundry but how to read the directions on the stain removal products. ::snicker::

WarmSocks said...

@Anon5:06
hydrogen peroxide for blood stains

 
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