Conditions

Opioid-free orthopedic surgery: Why (and how) my patients go opioid free after surgery

Conditions
August 7, 2022

Primum non nocere.  First, do no harm.

All doctors are familiar with this credo. From ancient precepts such as the Hippocratic Oath promising to abstain from doing harm to the modern bioethics principle of nonmaleficence, the calling of physicians involves striving to help alleviate suffering and avoid making it worse. In our increasingly complex health care and data environment, avoiding inadvertent harm can be more difficult than one might expect.

Read more…

The role of nutrition in rheumatology patients

Conditions
July 31, 2022

Five years ago, I met a patient that changed my view on practicing traditional medicine, especially when it comes to rheumatology. For years, I was proud to be in a booming field that provided patients with a new therapy every few years. As a physician and scientist, I believe that targeted therapy offers tools to treat patients like never before, but I have noticed that results vary over time.

Daniel was …

Read more…

A nut allergy nightmare at 35,000 feet

Conditions
July 30, 2022

A hungry college student was on a plane flying to Italy. She was alone, as her parents had bought her a ticket to join them on the trip, but their own flight had been sold out. About an hour after take-off, the flight attendants came down the aisle with their carts to serve dinner. She chose the chicken and quickly ate the entire meal. It was Indian-style cuisine, an odd …

Read more…

Denying essential medical care doesn’t save money — or lives

Conditions
July 30, 2022

That health care in the United States is wildly expensive is beyond debate — but the actual numbers are almost beyond belief. In 2010, for example, health care costs amounted to $2.6-trillion. By 2020, those costs had risen to $4 trillion — an increase of more than 50%. Worse, such increases show no signs of slowing.

Health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and direct government expenses all add up to a nearly …

Read more…

Seemingly unimportant acts make a big difference

Conditions
July 29, 2022

We were reminiscing recently at a brunch we set up. It had been many years since we had seen each other. Eventually, we went our separate ways. But we reconnected once again.

Anna was one of our night shift nurses. She was bright and articulate. She eventually became a preceptor and mentor to many new ICU nurses.

The “night shifters” are on an island of their own. We form a special family, …

Read more…

Candid about my breast cancer

Conditions
July 29, 2022

Lump

I am a pretty private person and will only disclose information with a small few I trust. However, it has been five years since my second diagnosis with breast cancer, and I felt compelled to share my journey because I’ve made it a lot longer than I thought I would.

Every day for the rest of the month, I will share what I recall, what helped, and what didn’t. My only …

Read more…

I received a comprehensive sex education. I still chose abstinence.

Conditions
July 28, 2022

Here’s the story of a girl who got a comprehensive sex education and still chose abstinence. That girl was me.

Did I gain this knowledge from school? Heavens no. I grew up in the South at the turn of the 21st century. Abstinence-only sex education was the name of the game (still is, last I checked), especially in the school district I was in. Ironically (or maybe not so, in light …

Read more…

Clearing up common misconceptions surrounding cellular technology and radiation

Conditions
July 26, 2022

5G and its related cell towers are still causing controversy around the U.S. Earlier this month, residents in Indiana and Nevada were against 5G cell towers being placed in their neighborhoods. In Charlotte County, Florida, one resident against the towers was concerned about his neighborhood being the guinea pigs of possible health implications caused by 5G. Before these complaints surfaced, 107 …

Read more…

What a good death looked like

Conditions
July 26, 2022

The first occurred when the ethics committee gathered to discuss one of the residents on the nursing wing. She was in the late stages of dementia and unable to speak. She had developed an ulcer on her foot, and the doctor recommended antibiotics and whirlpool treatments. These might prevent having her foot amputated.

Her health care agent with medical power of attorney was her daughter. She said that her mother had …

Read more…

Teen dies when blood culture protocol botched: What can we learn from this tragedy?

Conditions
July 25, 2022

It’s 4 a.m. when a 17-year-old awakens at home with severe left shoulder pain that his worried parents call 911. By the time he reaches the emergency room (ER), he has pain all the way to his wrist.

“Any recent injuries?” asks the doctor.

“Yeah, about three days ago, I was lifting about 200 pounds at the gym and noticed that my shoulder was really sore.”

When questioned further, he admits that he’d …

Read more…

My blood pressure spike on postpartum day 3

Conditions
July 25, 2022

The headache wasn’t that bad. The fatigue was worse. I had slept about six hours total in the past three days. I was fortunate to have dutiful help from my husband and both grandmas, but I was still exhausted. Between breastfeeding, diaper changes, snuggling, trying to eat and maybe shower, adjusting to being thrust into the most important role in my life, feeling the joy and anxiety as only someone …

Read more…

A gastric bypass might help some people bypass cancer

Conditions
July 23, 2022

In an exciting recent study, researchers found that for adults with obesity, weight loss through bariatric surgery lowered their risk of cancer by 35% and reduced their risk of cancer-related death by 43%. This was true of both gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgeries, and the results were observed ten years after patients’ procedures.

This is great news for people who have seen weight-loss success through bariatric surgery. The study …

Read more…

Nothing is sacred: Changing CPR algorithms can be a rude awakening

Conditions
July 21, 2022

It always makes my heart sink when the CPR guidelines change.

In 1980 I became a provider of advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) as certified by the American Heart Association.  This was a great move.  Through my internship and the many years that followed, it proved comforting to know that  I would act decisively and with confidence in the setting of a cardiorespiratory arrest.  The ACLS course dictated dogmatic protocols – …

Read more…

ADVERTISEMENT

My journey being gaslighted about obesity, skinny fat, and body type

Conditions
July 18, 2022

When I was eight years old, I was a star soccer player on a state championship team. During shirts-off practice and while down at the local pool, I noticed how different my body was compared to my peers. After I referenced my scientifically approved human body anatomy book, most of my peers’ bodies looked just like the standard human body image in the book, with all the muscles developed …

Read more…

He was more than a housekeeper

Conditions
July 18, 2022

Over 30 years ago, this man began working for our hospital system.

He was assigned to our ICU/CVICU units. Though some health care employees hadn’t even been born yet, Charles was a tried and true “lifer.”

He was our housekeeper. And he was our friend — our family.

He was a man with energy and stamina. He was a hard worker. Relentless. He could spin circles around a pack of 20-year-olds put together.

His …

Read more…

Fat acceptance is a human acceptance movement

Conditions
July 16, 2022

The recent article by Danielle Crittenden, “The Danger of Fat Acceptance: The Average American Woman Is Now a Size 18” is more of the same perpetuation of our society’s deeply internalized diet culture, weight blaming, and shaming of the individual and collective pursuit of thin privilege.

The article was sent to me by a friend, but I didn’t need to read it because I’m so familiar with the …

Read more…

The building blocks of a cancer risk management strategy

Conditions
July 14, 2022

According to data gathered by the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than 1.9 million new cancers are projected to be diagnosed in 2022. In addition, missed cancer screenings due to the pandemic are expected to potentially increase the number of cancers that are diagnosed at a more advanced stage. But the ACS data also highlight an important fact—approximately 42% of the new cancers projected to be diagnosed …

Read more…

The new 988 hotline has the potential to transform mental health care, but challenges loom

Conditions
July 13, 2022

The federal 988 hotline represents a promising new approach to alleviating the nation’s growing mental health crisis, but several key challenges loom that could derail this well-intentioned initiative.

One significant information technology challenge the hotline will face involves how to uniformly store and interpret mental health data (more on that later) but the most immediate roadblock is a lack of awareness.

Though the hotline is scheduled to debut in July, the program, …

Read more…

I have survived every tragedy that comes with nursing

Conditions
July 12, 2022

If mommy dearest only knew.

There I was, sitting in the banquet room — a room full of retired nurses celebrating with upper management. They were praising us for our retirement and praising us for our blood, sweat and tears and massive overtime hours with little to no potty breaks. They were praising us for our missed time with our families, like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.

It was nice.

With their white gloves, …

Read more…

Monkeypox: Have we learned anything?

Conditions
July 10, 2022

Perhaps I am being pessimistic, with a “glass half full attitude,” but please hear me out. I am optimistic, but I am also realistic, and I pay attention to trends and behaviors in people. When monkeypox was first mentioned in the Canadian media, it was seen as low risk for spread. I laughed and groaned simultaneously. I remember those exact words when public health officials first acknowledged COVID. The concerns …

Read more…

126
pages