Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Mind of a Neurologist

Between patients I'm sitting here listening to iTunes on the computer, and it picked Supertramp.

At the end of "It's Raining Again" there's a chorus of kids singing "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. He bumped his head and went to bed and didn't get up the next morning."

And I immediately think "Huh. He must have had a subdural hematoma."

Sigh.

I've been doing this for too long.

24 comments:

  1. Yep. But I'm not even a Doctor and I thought the same thing........my excuse is too many episodes of "House".

    I loves ya', Dr. G.

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  2. That is exactly what I think of when I hear that rhyme!

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  3. I would have two thoughts: 1) He probably didn't really bump his head; someone probably offed him in his sleep. 2) I hope he isn't a hoarder.

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  4. Actually, it's probably more a sign of thinking like a Medical student.

    We love to identify medical things in every aspect of life. I guess it gives a sense of feeling like we're beginning to pick up some medical knowledge.

    Diagnosing in House is a popular thing as well.

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  5. One of my friends just posted part of this song on my facebook page. What is it with this song today? Did I miss something?

    And what a weird little rhyme...

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  6. Clearly, they sent you away to teach you how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical, and they showed you a world where you could be so dependable, clinical, intellectual, cynical.

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  7. And, of course, he slept through breakfast in America.

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  8. LMAO, Dr. G!! I'd actually never thought to diagnose the "old man" although I have been fascinated by the morbid nature of the song since I was young. It's right up there with Rockabye Baby. Even at the age of three, I knew these songs were odd...but also somewhat amusing. (No wonder I ended up in emergency...morbid humor is the only thing keeping us sane.)

    Officer Cynical, your points are equally valid and humorous!!

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  9. EM Resident here.
    You know you have been in medicine too long when a bird flies into the window and you say ' .5mg mor and he better be in a c collar' to your girlfriend.

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  10. Most nursery rhymes have some basis in history--the "ring around the rosie" was the plague, for instance.

    But I seriously doubt that they understood subdurals when that rhyme was put together. Nice try.

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  11. ::giggle:: I can remember thinking as a kid that he suffered a brain injury whenever I heard/sang that. Come to think of it, I was also the only one in my class who knew the origin of "Ring Around the Rosy".

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  12. That is when the neon sign flashing "dork" goes off. My friends in college and I decided it goes off anytime you adapt a everyday situation and make it about your profession.

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  13. Correlation does NOT prove causation. The bump to his head may have no relationship to his inability to wake up. He's an old man. Maybe he just had a stroke.

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  14. As a child I learned a slightly different version of that rhyme:

    "It's raining, it's pouring;
    The old man is snoring.
    Went to bed, covered his head;
    And he won't get up in the morning."

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  15. Crazy story on the news this morning about Face Blindness!?! Have you ever encountered this?

    http://www.wzzm13.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=164595

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  16. Expound Grumpy was it closing time at the bar ?

    Sorry I mentioned House yesterday, cause now we are going to have a run on House diagnoses re runs

    When you hear Jack and Jill do you think impurely ?

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  17. Oh, Doc, we all do this in our own fields.

    Many (many) years ago when I had a functional body & used to play with live audio (as in rock'n'roll 'n' stuff) some colleagues & I were sitting around watching TV and one of those Solid Gold style shows came on [hey, I said it was long ago]

    and everyone started bitching out the technical side -- the lighting people starting picking on the colors and the layout and the sound guys all started yelling about fake microphones and the obvious proof (duh!) that it was a recording ("Hear that saxophone? Do you SEE a saxophone there?!")

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  18. Right. The snoring tips it off.

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  19. you diagnosed without a ct or mri? hmmmm ... didn't think you'd do that ::giggle::

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  20. Re: Jack and Jill

    "Jack and Jill went up the hill,
    to fetch a pail of water.
    Jack fell down,
    and BROKE HIS CROWN;
    and Jill came tumbling after.

    Up Jack got;
    and home did trot,
    as fast as he could caper.
    Old Dame Dob,
    plastered his knob,
    with *vinegar and brown paper."


    *Old time brown paper, when soaked with vinegar, would release DMSO.

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  21. My husband, an accountant, was talking about "assets" and me, a PT, could only think of "glute sets"!!! Sad...

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  22. How do you know it's a sundural hematoma as opposed to an epidural hematoma?

    I absolutely love your blog Dr. Grumpy, it makes a great study break! :P

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So wadda you think?