General Medical issues thread

[prozac]

IVIg is scheduled for tomorrow. Following up on the elevated cancer markers mentioned upthread I managed to get a booking reasonably quickly for a PET scan next Wednesday which surprised me. Very happy with timing. Not worried but I rather it did not drag on.

 

[Steamrollersam]

Rare and my vascular surgeon would disagree as he had to fix a few of these pseudoaneurysms . Ive seen a few myself. At my hospital they have stopped using AngioSeal and gone to PerClose.


Agree but i was responding to his comment that they mentioned a transeptal puncture. Any why i said it was not a big deal.


Disagree. We dont exactly know what they are going to do. As a result we can only comnent generally about risk. The treating cardiologist will be able to clarify the risk in the individual case- and this encourages the patient to ask the question.



Again same point as above. BTW ive seen one in flutter ablation. Never say never.


Which is the point that was made about the incidence of a PFO by the treating cardiologist

I surmise your vascular surgeon would mainly be dealing with complications from our cardiac interventional and structural colleagues who use arterial access —they are a completely different mob from us ( tongue in cheek). Electrophysiologists mainly use venous access, so we generally just pull sheaths out—no need for closure devices such as Perclose or Angioseal because veins are low-pressure vessels. But yes I do use Perclose for leadless pacemakers for Fr 28 femoral venous access and left-sided VT ablations if using femoral arterial access.

As I also said cardiac tamponade is very rare, I never say never, I might have my first one related to a flutter ablation next week. A big worry if it happens because patients are on blood thinners.

Our patients are provided written procedural info sheets and reliable online resources (including patient support groups) prior to their pre-procedure appointments to facilitate an informed discussion instead of turning to Dr Google.

 

[prozac]

I surmise your vascular surgeon would mainly be dealing with complications from our cardiac interventional and structural colleagues who use arterial access —they are a completely different mob from us ( tongue in cheek). Electrophysiologists mainly use venous access, so we generally just pull sheaths out—no need for closure devices such as Perclose or Angioseal because veins are low-pressure vessels. But yes I do use Perclose for leadless pacemakers for Fr 28 femoral venous access and left-sided VT ablations if using femoral arterial access.

As I also said cardiac tamponade is very rare, I never say never, I might have my first one related to a flutter ablation next week. A big worry if it happens because patients are on blood thinners.

Our patients are provided written procedural info sheets and reliable online resources (including patient support groups) prior to their pre-procedure appointments to facilitate an informed discussion instead of turning to Dr Google.

I am having a pacemaker swap next year, under 18mths left on current 2 lead PCM battery. Anything to know?
Original implant had a number if issues that took more than 6 months to sort out. PMT for 3 months, 30cm clot in axillary and branchial viens. Heart surgeon is suggesting he will do swap, but given initial issues I am thinking maybe I should use the original electro-cardiologist.

 

[prozac]

I have a PET scan appointment tomorrow at 1pm. I know I should fast for 6hrs prior per the following instructions sent when the booking was made last week.

I am writing to confirm your PET-CT appointment scheduled for Wednesday 16th October.

• FDG PET-CT Time 1pm

Please arrive at ½ Hr earlier to the appointment
I have noted that you are non-diabetic

Preparation is required as follows:

Fast 6 Hrs Prior No exercises for 12 Hrs prior Wear loose warm and comfortable clothing and if possible, avoid wearing jewellery or anything with metal.

Odd they don't mention water so to be certain I called the imaging company this morning.
"No water, definitely nil by mouth for 6hrs". I asked are you certain? "Yes, nothing at all for 6hrs"
So, HUACA. Someone else answers and I ask how they intend to get a canula into my arm if I am dehydrated. "I'll check" Runs off down the imaging labyrinth and returns 2 minutes later.
"Yes, you can drink water. Please have some at least 2hrs before coming in."

 

[Quickstatus]

Fasting is now (adults)
No food or milk 6hrs prior to procedure
Clear fluids up to 2hrs prior to procedure

Clear fluids = fluids that is transparent. No milk. Black tea/coffee, Gatorade etc OK. No fizzy. Technically that means wine is OK but thats not OK as alcohol apparently slows down gastric emptying.

 

[prozac]

Dozed off momentarily a couple of times in the nice new scanner. Was feeling the need for sustenance by the time I got home at 3pm.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Some sanity at last .

Flying with nut and other food allergies: unravelling fact from fiction | Archives of Disease in Childhood

 

[Pushka]

This laryngitis virus going around is a beauty. Went from a ticklish throat and blocked nose to full on loss of voice in a couple of days. Had to take a phone call and the caller sounded a bit shocked! Least it justified me not answering his call first time.

 

[Lynda2475]

This laryngitis virus going around is a beauty. Went from a ticklish throat and blocked nose to full on loss of voice in a couple of days. Had to take a phone call and the caller sounded a bit shocked! Least it justified me not answering his call first time.

Yep I had no voice for 5 whole days! Hopefully you recover quicker.

Whilst my voice is back, I still have an intermittent cough and zero energy. I woke up this morning made some breaky, went back to my room to read some news on tablet, closed my eye for what I thought would be a few seconds and work up 6 hours later!

 

[Flashback]

Yep I had no voice for 5 whole days! Hopefully you recover quicker.

Whilst my voice is back, I still have an intermittent cough and zero energy. I woke up this morning made some breaky, went back to my room to read some news on tablet, closed my eye for what I thought would be a few seconds and work up 6 hours later!

Sounds about the same as Mrs FB, she still hasn't made it out of bed - too exhausted. While it's viral, she was put on IV antibiotics in A&E last week and also given a 1 week course of 2x antibiotics; hasn't made much difference..... cough is slowly starting to dissipate, but she's still completely wiped out. I've had to run the household............. it's not going well

 

[prozac]

Imaging company gave me access to the PET and CT scan images last night, but no report for 7 days. Oh crumbs, bright spots all over the place! Ok, time to do some reading. Seems bright spots are not necessarily bad and on the coloured scans, I think the PET scans, the colour grades from green through yellow to red. A few red spots here and there but these are areas to be expected like the kidneys and tubes running down to the bladder, and bladder, where the fluorodeoxyglucose marker is being expelled from my system. In the absence of a call from my specialist I think I can say there is no indication of new lymphoma. I'll wait for the call from my haematologist before I celebrate.

 

[Pushka]

This is also a WCMO post. That medical people have taken so many years to treat endometriosis seriously and not shrug off excessive period pain as being normal. How my teen years would have been so different and maybe my mum might have been more sympathetic. I even fainted with pain at my own Uni graduation.

 

[blackcat20]

Similar illness going through our house, Miss TC was sick over school holidays and TV is out with it this week. Master TC seems to have a milder version though he says he vomited at kinder yesterday, and fell asleep at dinner time last night

 

[Flyfrequently]

Being a parent never stops, just picked up Surfer Flyfrequently from ED after she sustained an injury in the water today. 7 hours in ED, XRay clear.
(unable to get GP appointment till end of next week )

We all hope we never get crook from November to February as our GP and local hospital's resources are stretched at the best of times.

 

[Flashback]

Being a parent never stops, just picked up Surfer Flyfrequently from ED after she sustained an injury in the water today. 7 hours in ED, XRay clear.
(unable to get GP appointment till end of next week )

We all hope we never get crook from November to February as our GP and local hospital's resources are stretched at the best of times.

There's been an increase of around 3,500 people (at least) in my suburb in the last few years, with no increase in GP's, Dentists etc. I've pretty much just given up on going to see a GP when anything is wrong. A&E isn't an option either in more serious cases, without a similar wait to what you've described.

 

[prozac]

CT-PET report finally sent to my specialist. I am still in remission for cancer #1. No suggestion on why my markers are up but reassuring nonetheless.

 

[SomeRando]

Got my finger jammed in a door by someone at work which broke the bone in the very tip of my right index finger. Couple of days later got a call to say I was booked for surgery that afternoon which was a surprise considering the Dr in the ED said they probably wouldn't do anything.

Had the nail removed, the nail bed repaired and cleaned then stitiched up. Am off work for at least two weeks and will have no nail for about six months apparently. WorkCover claim already approved which was pretty quick and easy.

Pain wise is fine but as far as PITA level goes it is through the roof as I am right handed.

 

[Flyfrequently]

There's been an increase of around 3,500 people (at least) in my suburb in the last few years, with no increase in GP's, Dentists etc. I've pretty much just given up on going to see a GP when anything is wrong. A&E isn't an option either in more serious cases, without a similar wait to what you've described.

We have the pleasure of seasonal influx of holidaymakers and daytrippers @Flashback but as you say no upping of resources to meet the demand.

 

[VPS]

We have the pleasure of seasonal influx of holidaymakers and daytrippers @Flashback but as you say no upping of resources to meet the demand.

That will be me in a couple of weeks so hope I don't need any treatment

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

We book an appointment with our GP for every 4 weeks in advance. If we don’t need it we cancel 1 week out. She has a long waiting list so it’s easily snapped up. All done via the app, so easy to keep track.