General Medical issues thread

[Quickstatus]

mixed ward of 8 people. Disgusting

Its hard enough under normal circumstances.
When you are ill, you want maximum privacy.

 

[Pushka]

Its hard enough under normal circumstances.
When you are ill, you want maximum privacy.

There were admissions and departures happening all night long. And of course the usual questions about bowel movements. What is with that? At 2am one oldie was blissfully describing her latest effort loudly (clearly quite deaf) to the admitting nurse. I groaned out loud. Very loudly.

And taking of blood pressure. I'd finally drifted off to sleep maybe round 11pm. (After the nurse plugged the ear phones of the guy next to me - he'd been sitting watching TV with the ear phones on his ears but hadn't plugged in the ear phones to the TV. He had the TV up so loud because of course, the 'dead' ear phones blocked the noise. That Nurse I swear with glee, plugged in the ear phones without adjusting the volume down . ). They took blood pressure at 12 midnight. Woke me up to tell me it was too low and to take a lot of water. Another visit to the loo. No sleep.

 

[Quickstatus]

bowel movements

Actually very important.

Every visit we ask about farts and number 2.
A lack of either potentially is a red flag.

 

[blackcat20]

I had a BP check around 10.30pm, then IV antibiotics hooked up at 1.30am. Otherwise I actually slept quite well. The nurse paged the surgeon multiple times to get me discharged, and eventually a nervous registrar turned up. He didn't seem to be able to answer my questions about aftercare, so all I have is that I need to go to the GP at 7 days to have the packing removed. No idea if I'm even allowed to get it wet.

 

[Pushka]

Actually very important.

Every visit we ask about farts and number 2.
A lack of either potentially is a red flag.

Yeah I know. Just not interested in others movements at 2am.

 

[Quickstatus]

No idea if I'm even allowed to get it wet.

Abscess cavity packing should be left dry.
Might need further packing.
Depending on circumstance and size of packing we sometimes organise community nursing to come to the patient.

 

[blackcat20]

Abscess cavity packing should be left dry.
Might need further packing.
Depending on circumstance and size of packing we sometimes organise community nursing to come to the patient.

Well it already got wet in the shower, its in a spot where that cannot be avoided unless I just don't shower for a week...

 

[Quickstatus]

Well it already got wet in the shower

Ok, then suggest visit GP earlier to have it looked at/changed/removed.
Aftercare sounds poor

 

[Katie]

how does that work? Surely the hospital doesn’t allow just anyone off the street carrying food to go into a patient‘s room? What if it’s a shared ward? I know at Hobart Private you can’t get past nurses station without being on the list of visitors.

When my Mum was at RBWH after the dog accident last year, I could walk into her ward at almost any time. She was in Burns and Pain, as that's where there was a bed available. No-one ever queried me when I went into the ward.
The latest I was there was after she was sent up from Emergency, and that was around 11pm. The packet of sandwiches she and I shared was great!

I didn't try turning left though and getting into what I later realised was ICU!

 

[Quickstatus]

No-one ever queried me when I went into the ward

So it should be. its not a jail.
The covid era of isolating patients was a shameful period.
Solitary confinement for prisoners is often thought to be cruel under most jurisdictions especially if more than a few days. How was it not cruel for sick people who sometimes were delirious/confused.....

 

[drron]

I did my bit at one hospital. As a locum you do sometimes get nominated to a committee that no other specialist wants to be on. So I was put on a committee to streamline medical ward discharges. It was chaired by a dynamic young woman and within 3 weeks we had the plan ready and circulated. It was roundly criticised by the senior medicos but as usual introduced anyway.

I was there for another 2 months and by that time it was working well. It consisted on the medical teams seeing patients for discharge first before going to the Emergency Dept first where there were usually half a dozen admissions awaiting beds. The ED staff were initially unhappy as well. But as soon as discharge confirmed it was home or to a waiting room if they had to wait for transport.

So the admissions from ED got transferred to the medical ward immediately a patient left the medical ward. So both the Medical specialists and the ED staff saw the benefit. It was still going 6 months later when I went back again.

Different for surgical wards. but it can be done.

 

[Pushka]

So it should be. its not a jail.
The covid era of isolating patients was a shameful period.
Solitary confinement for prisoners is often thought to be cruel under most jurisdictions especially if more than a few days. How was it not cruel for sick people who sometimes were delirious/confused.....

And as for aged care confinements - just pleased my mum wasn't around.

 

[RooFlyer]

So it should be. its not a jail.
The covid era of isolating patients was a shameful period.
Solitary confinement for prisoners is often thought to be cruel under most jurisdictions especially if more than a few days. How was it not cruel for sick people who sometimes were delirious/confused.....

I appreciate it’s not what you were saying, but on the other hand, I don’t want people wandering in an out of hospital wards willy-nilly. There are people in their rooms with possessions, perhaps asleep, perhaps not otherwise 'with it' and I certainly like the hospital to know exactly who’s there, and that they have a good reason to be there ( in the wards).

I would not have minded if they kept up the Covid type entrance questionnaire on your phone. It wouldn’t stop you going in, but they know which visitors are in the building, where and why

 

[prozac]

I have a 60 year old kitchen with an awful electric solid plate cooktop. I don't care what it looks like but it is hopeless to cook on. So I have set my heart on a 90cm AEG induction cooktop which is on sale atm. In the midst of planning new cable runs today it hit me ... it is induction. Can anyone suitably qualified advise if this is ok to use with a pacemaker?
So far I have read conflicting reports, but I prefer not to place my life in the hands of a journalist.

 

[Quickstatus]

Can anyone suitably qualified advise if this is ok to use with a pacemaker?

Generally OK. 60cm is the usual distance
However as pacemakers are all different, it's best to ask the manufacturer of your pacemaker - check your pacemaker card.

For example one wire pacemakers are possibly more susceptible

 

[prozac]

Generally OK. 60cm is the usual distance
However as pacemakers are all different, it's best to ask the manufacturer of your pacemaker - check your pacemaker card.

For example one wire pacemakers are possibly more susceptible

Emailed already.
60cm is what abstract on Pubmed suggested. I think it will also come down to the cooktop manufacturer as a cooktop manufactured in China may have more stray flux than say a higher quality German brand.

 

[blackcat20]

Purchased waterproof bandages yesterday so I can shower with confidence

 

[love_the_life]

Came back from the weekend in Sydney on Sunday and Tuesday woke up with the lurgy - really just a head cold but annoying all the same. MrLtL has the same (possibly a bit worse) and on speaking to his sister this afternoon who was with us in Sydney, she has the same thing as well. At least I have been able to work from home as not really ill, just a bit off colour with a stuffed up/runny nose and a bit of a cough/sore throat.

 

[cove]

Medscape reported that Metformin can help reduce long covid. Metformin is used to treat diabetes.

 

[JohnK]

Well that was an interesting 60 hours.

Dizziness, headaches and hallucinations not induced by medication infact all I had was 3 aspirin on Friday morning when it all started and nothing since. Slept and did not want to wake up and felt like I was in another world. Did not want to be here.

Either suffering from extreme stress/depression or body fighting infection. May mention to doctor in passing but not sure there is anything we can do now post incident.