Medical things you didn’t know?

[Emptychairdoasolo]

Just watching a medical drama and wondered what happens if you die on the operating table? Do they just sew you back up without repairing anything inside?

but also had me thinking what other medical things didn’t you know until you maybe experienced them or learned?

Where have you been nursing? in every hospital and nursing home I have worked in it is always done.

A colleagues daughter died in her early 30’s of appendix cancer; she had it out and they filed the histopathology report without it going across the desk of the consultant so no one picked up on it. After 9 months of backwards and forwards to hospital with all sorts of worrying symptoms Simeón decided to pull her records and take a long look and found the report tucked away. Sadly, by then, it had spread and despite treatment, she didn’t survive. The oncologist who treated her actually started the complaints procedure that she hadn’t been followed up appropriately after the original surgery.

Some brain surgery is carried out with the patient awake. When surgeons are trying to remove a tumour, they will want to get as much out as possible without damaging healthy tissue. So they get cues from the patient's ability to speak, see, hear, move, etc., as a guide to how far they can go.

As far as I know, the brain doesn't have pain receptors. But the scalp does, so they inject a lot of local anaesthetic before making the first incisions.

This is 100% true. I’ve had 14G and 16G needles slide right in but had much smaller needles make me wince.

Breast cancer staging

My MIL had a brain haemorrhage aged 58. For the first day or so in hospital she was perfectly lucid then she suddenly went into a coma and we were subsequently told that she was brain dead. Her two children and my FIL were asked about whether they would consent to organ donation as she didn't carry a card. They agreed that anything that could be helpful to others could be used.

We were able to go and sit with her and have our final moments, not knowing if she'd ever know how much she was loved (although we did tell her before she the haemorrhage, of course).

Some time afterwards, my FIL received a letter from the transplant coordinator for the hospital, explaining that both corneas, some skin and her kidneys had been successfully transplanted.

A couple of years later he received another letter, via the coordinator again, from one of the recipients of a kidney.

She'd been on dialysis waiting for a match for ages. The reason she was writing was to say she'd just had a baby, something she and her partner had hoped for but never expected.

That news, whilst not lessening the pain of losing her, did such a lot to show that saying yes to that important question had made such a difference to at least one family. And yes, it did help a lot.

I recently saw a medical programme on TV where the patient had this - and yes, it did look like jelly.

In terms of growth linked to periods, I have scoliosis which develops rapidly during puberty as the body is growing so fast. I was mortified every time I went to see the orthopaedic surgeon as every time I went (every six months) he would ask if my periods had started. He said it’s because they give an indication of growth patterns so it would be an indicator of whether my spine was still growing rapidly, but he also said that girls typically stop growing around age 18 and boys at 21.

Not sure why you felt the need to tag a metastatic BC patient in this but thanks 🙄

@sashh what’s the context behind the Vietnamese couple and the baby?

@ChocoChocoLatte hope your ok. Hugs xx

@Whokilledrogerrabit& @MissingMoominMamma
you do breathe through both nostrils at the same time (unless you have an injury, like me), but you have a dominant nostril that takes in more air. Which nostril is dominant changes during the course of the day - for some people these 'cycles' are fairly quick, less than an hour, for other people they're much longer.

You must surely breathe through both nostrils at the same time - I bet almost everyone who’s had a cold has had that horrible feeling of waking up during the night with one nostril blocked.

I’m a nurse and I always did this when I worked on the ward. Last year I had to go to A&E (as a patient). I could see on the board that the previous patient in the room I was allocated had RIP’d. I texted my sister and said ‘I hope they opened a window for her!’. My sister joked later ‘what if they didn’t and she’s still with you?’. I told her my luck had changed since then so if she’s with me she can stick around 😀

Don’t be concerned, the medication WILL help you it’s just the original theory on how they work is not exactly correct. This is a fairly new discovery and so many HCP still refer to serotonin levels as it’s probably what they were taught. Antidepressants were accidentally discovered as a treatment for depression, their origin purpose was to increase serotonin production so the assumption was the cause of depression was low levels of serotonin. We now know the cause is a bit more complicated but the drugs still alleviate symptoms successfully!

@sashhwhat’s the context behind the Vietnamese couple and the baby?

There is a superstition that if you coddle the child evil spirits will become jealous and steal the baby. Mum and baby stay home and don't have visitors. The baby might not get a name or new clothes.

New baby celebrations take place after a month with a banquet. And then there is often a celebration at 100 days.

Some other SE asian countries have similar customs.

Yes you can. Cardiac sarcoma is one. Rare, but possible.

My best friend is Stage 4 breast cancer. So, sadly, I believe this is untrue.

Hers was detected at Stsge 2 (in breast and lymph nodes nearby), was treated but then jumped to stage 4 (across many organs). She was never detected as bring stage 1 or 3.

Other brilliant words I've picked up -

'Malena' - sounds lovely, means blood in stools.

'Candida' - most people have probably heard of this, but it's a genus of yeast that causes thrush.

Conversely 'Cyesis' sounds like a terrible disease, means they're pregnant.

In some cultures it is considered unlucky to be too proud of your infant because it can attract bad luck/ jealousy from the gods, so publicly at least parents don't make too much fuss of the child.

Possibly it's a traditional explanation for distressing infant conditions eg SIDS (I'm guessing here)

I was diagnosed de novo Metastatic TNBC and was informed that breast cancer is the only one that doesn't use 'stages' within its descriptions.

Have obviously been delighted in people telling me that information is true on this thread.

I will however continue to put trust and faith in my excellent medical team who have kept me alive, against all odds, thus far.

I hope your friend only has the very best of care and support around her.

Just a thought, but I wonder if the confusion about breast cancer staging comes from the fact that metastatic (stage 4) BC doesn't have an substages? So strictly I guess the cancer is either metastatic or not metastatic, but it is still a stage 4 cancer if it is metastatic. The de novo part of the definition refers to the fact that the cancer has presented at stage 4 rather than at stage 2 for example and then progressed. IIRC, stage 0 cancer also has no subdivisions, but stages 1,2 and 3 can all be further divided into I A&B; II A&B; III A,B&C.

Technically I think this makes everyone who's commented right.

I ended up high risk once I arrived on the labour ward so needed induction, antibiotics and potentially a transfusion. Didn’t get a choice on the canula really! This time round I’m high risk from the start so it will same again unfortunately 🙁

I hope I'm one of your patients when I die.

Right I have had enough of windows opening now, after 15 pages!

I had a procedure recently called Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (try saying that after a few pints!), it is a relatively new thing, some years anyway. It means I don't have to take blood thinning medication anymore. I have Atrial Fibrillation (heart rhythm issue), and it can cause stroke if a clot breaks off. The clot usually forms in the Left Atrium, so now that it is closed off, my stroke risk is the same as someone without Afib. Amazing stuff. I was very lucky to be a candidate for it. I am a bleeder, and had gastric bleed so the risk of bleeding was high if I had to take thinners. I saw a recording of the op, one that the surgeon had in his arsenal for the students. Hope it wasn't me! It is a Watchman device.

I never knew any of this, i.e. strokes, arrythmia, left atrium, Watchman etc.