Medical lingo

[gailkate]

Don't know where to put this, but it's interesting. A new book describes the insider slang of doctors and nurses that lets them communicate or inject a little humor without patients' understanding.
www.motherjones.com/media/2015/04/what-doctors-are-really-saying-about-you
We'll see if K thinks this is accurate.

[BoatBabe]

I'll be interested to see what Doc says . . .

[BoatBabe]

I did not post that twice! This site can be weird.

[Jane]

My s-i-l used LOLWD for little old lady weak and dizzy. They also talk about the knife and gun club (usually weekend and gang members or the like). They call motor cycles "donor cycles". He works in the ER. He says when men (usually) come in with something inserted where it shouldn't be, it's always because they "fell in the shower."

[Jane]

When he was in med school, they called all the Indian docs "Guptas". (May not be politically correct.) And ER docs have the reputation for being adrenalin junkies.

[doctork]

I'd say a lot of the terms are quite common, though there seem to be regional variations.

I haven't come across LOLWD, but we did see a lot of WADAO (weak and dizzy all over) when I was in training, and in practice elsewhere. In N AZ (I'll just call it NAZ), nobody was familiar with it though.

At one of the facilities where I trained in Denver, a book was written about it entitled "Saturday Night Knife and Gun Club."

I've not used FOOBA, but the phenomenon is a regular enough occurrence that those of us on the medical ward always dreaded a transfer from ortho; they were always "train wrecks," (in other words, FOOBA).

When I was a resident, we were forbidden to use the term GOMER, so we changed to GOMEROS (masculine) and GOMETTES (feminine).

In OBGYN, "chandelier sign" is when a patient has PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease), and when you do an exam to detect CMT (cervical motion tenderness) the patient hits the ceiling - ie, it hurts. Lots of fluffy patients too in OBG. In fact, in our clinic in NAZ, we had very few normal OB patients despite the fact that FP's usually do mainly low-risk OB.

Donorcycles, No Code, Slow Code (move slowly to patient's room), Show Code (run to room, shut door, do very little), Code Brown, O sign, Q sign, FLK - yup, used/use all the time.

Negative wallet biopsy is a real phenomenon, though greatly reduced after EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act) was passed. However, I now have to spend 5 - 10 minutes on paperwork that swears I am not sending a patient elsewhere just because the wallet biopsy is negative, but rather because, you know, in the clinic or in a small rural hospital, we can't take care of really sick people, like those who need intensive care. The gubmint clearly knows it is much more important that I waste time to check off and sign a form instead of tending to the patient and saving someone's life.

And although internists are often referred to as fleas, I didn't learn it as an acronym. Rather, the saying was internists flock around "interesting cases" like fleas on a dog. One never wants to be an interesting case oneself, though if it is someone else, say a random patient, well that's good because it is an interesting case. Better than yet another alcoholic with GI bleed, withdrawal/DT's/pancreatitis. The latter patients are among the frequent flyers.

I've heard the "fell in the shower" excuse a number of times. Female victims of DV (Domestic Violence) typically claim they "ran into the door."

Drug seekers (opiates) have an inordinate incidence of crime (somebody stole my purse with all my meds in it), and they have unusual toilets - into which the opiates always seem to fall. Funny, it is never the diabetes or blood pressure pills that fall in the toilet. Not to mention that any self-respecting true druggie wouldn't just reach into the toilet and grab the pills back out.

Oh and speaking of crime, the perpetrators are always "these two dudes." Hey, I was just minding my own business when these two dudes came along and... It's never a LOL or an FLK or a single gal/guy who commit crimes, always these two dudes. If only the FBI would nab those two dudes, crime in the US would be eliminated.

[Jane]

Oh, yeah "minding my own business". My son in law says the best way to stay out of trouble is obviously NOT to mind your own business. And they always say, "I won't lie to you, Doc. I had a coupla beers." Even when they can no longer stand up, it's always "a coupla beers." And I think those same two dudes must live in Holland where my son in law works. They really get around.

When Scott was in medical school, he heard a senior doctor saying to an intern, "Now here where you say that the patient was bitten by a dog, we don't really need to know that the dog's name was Bingo."

[doctork]

"Coupla beers" seems to be universal. I think liquor stores could have a great sideline business selling printed, stick-on labels saying "Coupla Beers" on any size bottle of alcoholic beverage.

Same as at the airport. Professionally printed labels saying "3.4 ounces/100 ml" to stick on your two liter Coke bottle to get through TSA.

[gailkate]

Great stuff! I love knowing people with inside dope. Now I'm going to try to think of cases and ask what the slang would be. If none exists, we could make some up

You home yet, K?

[doctork]

We're in Nashville, about to depart. Home by tonight - via Knoxville, Bristol, Whytheville, then Sparta. Home territory, I probably don't even need the map.

However, I am wary. Whenever someone says "You can't miss it" I know I WiLL miss it.

[BoatBabe]

Ha! Doc and her entourage should be waking up in their own beds this morning. What a wonderful, and hopefully comfortable, change.

[gailkate]

Wonderful for every creature, great and small! I wonder if Johnny will remember at all that he once lived there. For sure, Howard will. And Small and Callie will need a few days to figure out they're actually going to stay there, but what fun to settle into their own favorite spaces.

K, I know you've told us, but this is Sieve Brain talking, so tell us again when your jobs start.

[gailkate]

Have I posted this before? Mom is definitely part Beagle.

[BoatBabe]

That's darling! I haven't seen that video before. Thanks for posting,gk!

[doctork]

Once I figured out i don't have to start "yesterday" I decided to take some time off, coupla months. Kinda like coupla beers.

I have StarMegaDO6 in May, then there is the Bellingham house that needs some attention to decide what to do with. We have a granddaughter to visit too. I'll take some time.

Howard hasn't said anything specific about his job. There is one definite opening for him at the hospital and also another possibility with a friend here in NC.

I love my work but also don't have to work at this point. However I do have this expensive travel habit, I don't care for the draconian tax penalties of "early retirement" and another year or two to pay off the mortgage(s) would be beneficial.

So - we'll see.

[gailkate]

Sounds good. Tell us how you're all settling in, weather, state of the house, etc.

[doctork]

The house is in great shape, as a cleaning service was hired to come in before we got here. I am still organizing and dowsizing continues to be the watchword.

It rained all the way across country and continues to do so with the creek running high. This monrning is sunny at least for the moment and it is about 80. It had been cooler in the 60's until now. Everything is lush and green, and the dogwood is blooming as well ss lots of others whose names I forget. There is a little rock garden I should plant around a tree by the garage and also a flower bed along the breezeway between the house and garage. I shall have to read up on this gardening business.

Howard is real glad to be back in NC while I still have mixed feelings about leaving my patients and colleagues in AZ. But not that bad. I can move on.

[BoatBabe]

That all sounds pretty good, Doc, especially considering you have hardly been there long enough to remember where you are when you wake up in the mornings.

What about bedding? Did the housekeeping service wash and remake the beds, or did you bring your own?

[doctork]

Johnny seems to remember he had lived here before, but he is a little more cautious - only limited outside activities. And of course, we are in the country, so it's not a neighborhood where he can be Mayor of the whole block.

I still have trouble remembering where I am but it is only a little worse than usual. I've lived and traveled so many places that it is always a challenge to remember where I am. I still might absently say "When I get back to Denver..." And if someone asked "Where are you from?" well that can be a long discussion.

The housekeeper did not change the sheets, though I made the beds with clean sheets the last time I was here, so they are "relatively" clean. Enough so that re-making the beds and laundering the sheets is not on the top of today's To Do list. We specifically didn't bring linens or kitchen stuff from AZ - we have enough stuff here.

I do wish I had brought Dream Dinners though - they make cooking so much easier. And the nearest DD in Winston is closing for remodeling and won't re-open til June, so I need to call Doris and see if she has a few dinners left. Otherwise, make the trip to another DD farther away.

[BoatBabe]

Since you now live out in the country, Doc, how close is the nearest store? And how big is the town? Big enough to have a drug store and other amenities for a country family? We have so many questions for you.

[doctork]

It's bigger than Leupp, smaller than Winslow, less than 2,000 people. We're just outside of the city limits but very close to town. There are two drugstores and two grocery stores, multiple gas stations, at least 3 "nice" restaurants as well as numerous more casual places and fast food places. No operating movie theater but one former movie place has live music and dancing (that's bluegrass/Americana music, and clogging I think) one or two nights a week. Then at the city park there is also live music at least one night per week.

MerleFest starts tomorrow and some of the performers live in this area and are expecting "their new doctor" to visit with them at the stage before or after their performances. Merlefest is held at Wilkesboro Community College, which is 35 - 40 miles down the mountain, takes just over an hour to get there from here.

I don't currently play any instruments but this is the kind of place where if you have 5 people in a room, you got a band. Obviously a great location for those who love live music, which I do.

"In the neighborhood" Elkins and Mount Airy (aka "Mayberry") are 30 - 35 miles down the mountain in NC, while Winston-Salem is about 65 miles away, and it is exactly 100 miles from my house to the Charlotte airport (CLT). To the north or northwest it's about an hour to Bristol (straddles the TN/VA state line) and Abingdon, or 2 hours to Roanoke or Blacksburg. Storytelling in Jonesborough, TN is about 2 hours west, not far as the crow flies, but it's mountainous roads with a lot of switchbacks so it is slow going but quite beautiful.

Oh, speaking of Mayberry, when Howard worked in Mt Airy, he often saw the actor who player Floyd the barber on the Andy Griffith Show, who still lived there. He is/was quite elderly but reportedly still had an eye for the ladies. Here on Main Street in Sparta, we have Kermit the barber, which is where Howard gets his haircuts.

We're 9 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway which goes north into Virginia where it meets up with the Skyline Drive, and south all the way to Cherokee, NC and the Great Smokies National Park. Tons of gorgeous scenery all 4 seasons on the Parkway, lots of interesting historical and touristic stops along the way. The New River is very close, and in our neck of the woods, canoeing and kayaking on the more placid part of the river river are popular, though if you go a bit farther upriver, there's more white water rafting on the rapids. There is also a ski area about an hour away at Beech Mountain/Banner Elk, NC.

In short, very nice place to live if you don't need city life, and also a popular vacation area.

[BoatBabe]

Well, doesn't that sound pleasant! And Merlefest close enough to avoid airplane tickets (not that you are trying to avoid those) sounds pretty darn fun. Apparently plenty of people know that "their new doctor" has moved into the community, and how cool is that?!? It's that Small Town atmosphere, I think, that we strive to find wherever we go.

So, which instrument are you planning to pick up, Doc?

[slb2]

Apr 22, 2015 12:14:56 GMT -5 doctork said:

In short, very nice place to live if you don't need city life, and also a popular vacation area.

Sounds heavenly, Doc. My youngest daughter went to college at Warren Wilson in Asheville/Swananoa, NC for a few years and that's a wonderful memory for me--the drive out there and staying at Mama Gertie's, which is a collection of small cabins in the mountains there.  Mmmm. Love the Smokies.

[slb2]

Apr 22, 2015 12:14:56 GMT -5 doctork said:

We're 9 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway which goes north into Virginia where it meets up with the Skyline Drive, and south all the way to Cherokee, NC and the Great Smokies National Park. Tons of gorgeous scenery all 4 seasons on the Parkway, lots of interesting historical and touristic stops along the way. The New River is very close, and in our neck of the woods, canoeing and kayaking on the more placid part of the river river are popular, though if you go a bit farther upriver, there's more white water rafting on the rapids. There is also a ski area about an hour away at Beech Mountain/Banner Elk, NC.

In short, very nice place to live if you don't need city life, and also a popular vacation area.

It's probably not fair of me to post this, Kristin, because I know your great big heart, but something is telling me to share about this Great Pyrenees. 

"I will never understand how anyone can hit a puppy with a car and leave it to die. I am supremely displeased with mankind today, and we need some help.



This is Paulina. She is a 5 month old lab Great Pyrenees mix puppy. Someone hit her with a car and she was found unable to move laying in a ditch. A Good Samaritan found her and brought her to a vet who contacted us. The vet said she had likely been there for 2 to 3 days in that ditch based on her condition. This puppy laid by the side of a highway for 2 to 3 days injured and in pain. I cannot get past that fact.



When we got her on Monday, we were not sure that she could be saved. Paulina has two broken back legs and a fractured pelvis. Despite her injuries and the pain she has suffered, Paulina still tries to wag her tail and get up to kiss your face. I was prepared for the news that she could not be saved, but we have awesome orthopedic folks and great vets and Paulina had her surgery yesterday. Both legs have been repaired and she will now have to rest and heal. I am optimistic, but it will be weeks before she can walk again.



We are now officially too poor to do rescue. We would do it all over again, but between the border collies, the two other dogs hit by cars this week and now Paulina, we are out of funds. I was despairing last night and planning to shut down rescue for a while to pay off our debts to vets, but this too shall pass. I hope.



Paulina's care is upwards of $5K. If you would like to donate to her fund, you can donate here: bigfluffydogs.com/pay-online.php (just put Paulina's name in the company line if you donate by credit card or in the message box if by Paypal). For those asking for an address, it's BFDR 1206 Russell St, Nashville, TN 37206.



She will be needing a foster, so interested Nashville people should email [e-mail]. Thanks as always."

Big Fluffy Dog Rescue

[doctork]

I participated in a Tiny House Workshop at Warren Wilson College. It is indeed a lovely place. In my youth I went to summer camp in Hendersonville, which is now a "suburb" of Asheville since Asheville has grown into a big city. We're at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, while Asheville is closer to the southern end. It feels like the Blue Ridge is where my roots are - family connections in NC/SC/GA/AL, years of living and going to school in Virginia - so I think we're settled here, though I don't dare use the "P word" (Permanent).

Though we've just acquired our little beagle Callie, we're fond of Big Fluffy Dogs and do still intend to get a Bernese Mountain Dog. That will take a while though.

Often in medical school I wished I had gone to vet school instead. However, that would have been a mistake as I do not do at all well with sick or injured animals, though for people in the same condition, I'm good. The clue was in college biology when I fainted in the lab when we had to do frog experiments.

Still, when sick or injured animals present themselves, I somehow muster the spine to do The Right Thing and take them to the vet or the shelter. Then I have PTSD for months thereafter.