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Wed 10 Apr, 2013 05:32 am
"One day, I had the most hair-raising, sphincter-clenching airway case I’ve ever had. I had a 500lb asthmatic who came in on Bipap who needed to be intubated (put on life support). I go in to intubate her and she’s got a tongue the size of a football, her sat drops to 50% (dying) and I can’t get the tube. My two partners and I take turns struggling to get this lady intubated using multiple techniques before she dies, which is going to be very soon, minutes, seconds. She’s young and she’s going to die, right now. No one can get any airway in and she’s not breathing, at all. I call ENT and anesthesia (which I’d never done before, in years of practice) and plan on cric-ing this ladies’ neck (cutting a hole in her neck and putting a tube in), which is going to be an abominable nightmare since she’s 500lbs with no neck at all. Luckily, thank god, my partner tries again and blindly, luckily, gets the airway before we need to cric her and before any consultant arrives. It’s the worst case of almost any kind I’ve had in years, but thank god, we saved this ladies life.
None of this so far is what bothers me. Here’s the kicker: I walk out of the room and this old man in the room next door starts swearing at me, pointing his finger in my face nearly spitting centimeters from my nose saying he’s been on the phone with his lawyer and he’s going to sue me because his (adult) daughter who’s totally stable and barely sick enough to be in the hospital had been in the ER 4 hours and wasn’t upstairs to a room yet. I said to the guy, “I was next door, working to save that ladies life. We saved her life.” He had watched the whole thing, he said “I don’t care, we’re going to sue you!! We’re going to sue you! You hear me, sue the pants off you!” This is not the first time this has happened. I’ve coded children who’ve died after working to save them for what seems like forever and immediately after returning to my other patients who’ve now been waiting for hours, I’ve been sworn at and verbally berated because someone who came in for a stubbed toe had to wait while I worked on a dying child. It’s truly unbelievable. You can let this roll of your back the first 50 times, but at some point enough is enough."
@PinkLipstick,
Sometimes it can be unfair on how patients or relatives treat you.
@PinkLipstick,
Based on your other posts (16-yr-old girl with health/weight concerns) this post is not you and apparently has nothing to do with you. Why did you post this?
@Ragman,
This particular one was lifted from another board:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-481891.html
scroll down to an entry from 03-03-2011 and a post by baj6974 and check the next to last paragraph:
Quote:You’re treated with unfathomable contempt and disrespect at times. One day, I had the most hair-raising, sphincter-clenching airway case I’ve ever had. I had a 500lb asthmatic who came in on Bipap who needed to be intubated (put on life support). I go in to intubate her and she’s got a tongue the size of a football, her sat drops to 50% (dying) and I can’t get the tube. My two partners and I take turns struggling to get this lady intubated using multiple techniques before she dies, which is going to be very soon, minutes, seconds. She’s young and she’s going to die, right now. No one can get any airway in and she’s not breathing, at all. I call ENT and anesthesia (which I’d never done before, in years of practice) and plan on cric-ing this ladies’ neck (cutting a hole in her neck and putting a tube in), which is going to be an abominable nightmare since she’s 500lbs with no neck at all. Luckily, thank god, my partner tries again and blindly, luckily, gets the airway before we need to cric her and before any consultant arrives. It’s the worst case of almost any kind I’ve had in years, but thank god, we saved this ladies life. None of this so far is what bothers me. Here’s the kicker: I walk out of the room and this old man in the room next door starts swearing at me, pointing his finger in my face nearly spitting centimeters from my nose saying he’s been on the phone with his lawyer and he’s going to sue me because his (adult) daughter who’s totally stable and barely sick enough to be in the hospital had been in the ER 4 hours and wasn’t upstairs to a room yet. I said to the guy, “I was next door, working to save that ladies life. We saved her life.” He had watched the whole thing, he said “I don’t care, we’re going to sue you!! We’re going to sue you! You hear me, sue the pants off you!” This is not the first time this has happened. I’ve coded children who’ve died after working to save them for what seems like forever and immediately after returning to my other patients who’ve now been waiting for hours, I’ve been sworn at and verbally berated because someone who came in for a stubbed toe had to wait while I worked on a dying child. It’s truly unbelievable. You can let this roll of your back the first 50 times, but at some point enough is enough.
I get the feeling that PinkLipstick's other posts might have similar previous living locations.
@Sturgis,
Very interesting observation. at least this time, the post had quotations marks (unaccredited) around it.
@Ragman,
You are correct, that story is not said by me, which is why I put it in quotation marks. And my BMI is 16, I'm not 16 years old. I'm in college and I want to know what kind of doctor to be, so I wanted to know about ER doctors. Then I found that post where someone talked about their bad experience and how badly they were treated. Thus, I wanted to know if the public has changed their view on doctors or if everyone thinks they're money hungry and still treats them badly.
@Ragman,
At least this time? My questions have been about my personal lifes inquiries. I've asked about my BMI since I was studying it in my Nutrition class.
I asked about my chemistry problem, showing how I did it and the answer my professor got, which was different from mine. I needed to know it since my exam was the next day.
I asked about Microsoft Office since it wasn't working when I was typing up an essay.
I asked about valium because my doctor gave it to me to take the night before my wisdom teeth were removed.
After my wisdom teeth were removed, I was scared that something might go wrong and wanted to have my fears eased before my next appointment, so I posted a question for help.
Then I was ordered not to eat hard foods so I posted a question on which soft foods I should eat. I wanted recommendations.
Should I go on?
*sigh* jeez, if you're not going to answer my question, then why troll my forum?
@PinkLipstick,
oh, wait she's only four..
from a Pfeiffer cartoon.
I remember when I first went online and asked about corgis, and no one answered and I was irate, or sort of irate.
One of my friends ran a major ER. Far as I know, most of us appreciate er docs. As a group they can be special people.
@ossobuco,
Quote:oh, wait she's only four..
from a Pfeiffer cartoon.
Please stop trolling me (-__-")...
However, thank you for giving me your opinion on ER docs. I've been reading a lot of crazy stuff on the internet and a lot of people usually make bad comments about them. I know not everyone's going to be nice to me but I wouldn't want everyone to be cruel either. Especially not after those consecutive 24-hour shifts ER docs have to do on occasion that I've heard about.
@PinkLipstick,
I've known several er docs, including one head of ER at a big city hospital for many years.
I'm not trolling you.
Don't post stupid stuff or fantasies, they irritate us.
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