Diagnoses you never thought you'd see?

Nurses General Nursing

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What's the most unusual patient you've ever had? I've had a couple--one was a woman whose admit orders included that she was NOT to have any food from home. They suspected that her husband was POISONING her.

The other was a woman who was a former LPN with a textbook case of Munchausen's syndrome. There was really nothing wrong with her but she kept insisting (moaning, actually) that she was SO sick. Very weird.

Specializes in ICU, Med/Surg, Ortho.

Hansen's (Leprosy). Fairly rare in the US. Most new cases come in states with large immigrant populations (Calif, New York, Texas, Mass). Also appears endemic in Louisiana, oddly, which is not noted for immigration pop.

Very sad case. It was not discovered in her until late. Most US docs don't see it enough to recognize.

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Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

This one had a dx of FUO for a few weeks while everything else was ruled out because symptoms are so vague and pt did not know he had been bitten by a tick.

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:bby: GrandBaby girl born 1/15/08!!!:redpinkhe

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Hansen's (Leprosy). Fairly rare in the US. Most new cases come in states with large immigrant populations (Calif, New York, Texas, Mass). Also appears endemic in Louisiana, oddly, which is not noted for immigration pop.

Louisiana was the location of Carville, a government-run treatment center and home for people with Hansen's disease from the early 1900s until it closed in 1999. Whether it was located there because of the higher incidence or its presence influenced the local population is unknown.

Here is a link that tells about the facility's progression from a near-medieval prison camp to a haven for those shunned by families and the rest of society:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE3D91638F93AA25755C0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

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Specializes in NICU.
40 yr old man with: dextrocardia, transposition of the great vessels (wasnt repaired when he was a child), and a single ventricle.

This guy had cardiac surgery with us a week ago (not sure what for exactly, didnt care for him,...but it was a LONG surgery...he was on bypass from 8am till 1am the next day. Was a train wreck post op.

My god, he must have had the BIGGEST atrial septal defect if he was still alive at 40. I imagine (and just speculating here) that they probably did a switch operation, but they must have also had to replace a valve or do some kind of shunt. I bet his valves and vessels were completely screwed up from that wonky circulation all his life.

It's funny, because as babies the TGA kids tend to do the best of all the major cardiac defects. Just a quick cut everything off and plug it back in where it was meant to be.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

We had a 12 year old we admitted with dx-abd pain. She looked horrible. She was gray. Got her ABG's back, her PH was 6.7. And she was eating an ice cream.

Anyway, long and sad story short, she coded and we lost her. Worst day of my nursing career.

We found out after she died that she had a rare infection that had spread to her heart, caused an enlarged heart, and she eventually went into severe CHF. They said we couldn't have saved her even if we had knew. But, we didn't know because she refused every test that was ordered.

Kinda stuff you don't see often at a 35 bed hospital in a small town :(

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We found out after she died that she had a rare infection that had spread to her heart, caused an enlarged heart, and she eventually went into severe CHF. They said we couldn't have saved her even if we had knew. But, we didn't know because she refused every test that was ordered.

that is really sad...

how come a 12 yo got to refuse?

didn't she have parent/guardian?

i suppose it's a moot point now.

i'm glad she enjoyed her ice cream. :lttang:

leslie

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
that is really sad...

how come a 12 yo got to refuse?

didn't she have parent/guardian?

The mother said if she didn't want to go, she didnt' have to go. "It don't matter anyway" :o

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Specializes in Case management, Utilization Review.

On one of our computer screens that the admitting people put the diagnosis on, you'll sometimes see some strange things. I don't think most of the staff have any training in medical terminology. Anyhow, the funniest one I've seen so far was 'Neutromember'. One of the strangest one was 'Gestational diabetes'....in 68 year old.

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Anyhow, the funniest one I've seen so far was 'Neutromember'.

i can see it now.

a newbie doc, nervously tells his pt, as he reads from the printout...

"i'm sorry joe. but your wbc is 50, so your girlfriend (w/a cold) can't visit today.

you have NEUTROmember." (can you hear the big, booming voice w/the echo?)

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

leslie

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Wow, I had no idea. They need to hike the insurance rates up for those idiots.

These idiots have no insurance. So our rates getted hiked up. Same with our taxes.

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The mother said if she didn't want to go, she didnt' have to go. "It don't matter anyway" :o

What was the mother's reaction when her daughter doed?

I bet she even threatened to sue.

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A few years ago I got floated to PICU. They gave me the smallest child they had for an assignment. A 5 year old with Botulism. Docs think he got from eating raw honey or even from running around barefoot. Not something a NICU nurse deals with too much.

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I inserted a Foley on an Iraqi woman with a female circumcision.

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