Aug 10, 2002, 06:47 PM
Updated
Aug 10, 2002 at 06:51 PM by KaraLea
My latest would be the woman who came into Med/Surg with UNTREATED Breast CA. She had been sent home the day before because there was no longer anything we could do for her and she wanted to die at home. Well, it must have been a long drive to get home because she stayed that night in a hotel where she fell and landed on the floor chest first. The CA had eaten to the outside and there were a bunch of "blisters" on the breast which burst when she fell. There were huge open, draining wounds to the breast now which we had to "dress" with chux pads...These were the only things that would fit. Just layered chux ans towels over the breast. We had to keep her in a Resp isolation room because of the stench alone and you could still smell the rotting flesh in the hallway everytime the door was opened. By the time I came on, she had become unconcious without obvious signs of pain, though we did have Roxinol ordered for her. This poor woman died later that same day and I called my doctor for a mammogram the next day. It really scared me. This CA had been caught early enough, but she had refused treatment.
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