patients who LIE about their symptoms!

[HappyNurse2005]

Had a pt w/ cardiomyopathy, EF 40%, CHF, htn, etc. In for exacerbation of CHF. Pt of internal med residents and cardiology. Pt was having short runs of vtach, 5 to 8 beats. Asymptomatic. well, at first!

TUrns out she was feeling weak and having "funny feelings" in her chest during these runs, but lied about it b/c she wanted to go home.

She's getting an AICD

Edited to add/clarify:

I now realize that it really doesn't matter who pays for it, so i deleted that sentence. That's not the point of this thread, nor was it to be snarky. It was simply complete surprise that said pt would lie. This is a woman who is already sick. Quite the cardiac history, plus copd/asthma/smoker. (point of all this being-she's sick)

I can see people who've never been sick before denying it, b/c they don't understand. This is someone who is already quite chronically ill, I would think that someone already with cardiac disease would value the importance of getting not lying about heart problems.

THe point of this is being surprised/not understanding. Not to be snarky.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

War story: Had a young guy in his 20's come into the ER c/o abd pain (he was still in his street clothes). I asked if he had any medical problems and he said "No, I'm healthy as a horse!" As I'm getting his shirt off I see the unmistable open heart scar down his chest and I asked what happened and his reply was that, "Oh, that was from the heart transplant I had about 5 years ago - I've been healthy as a horse since then." tee hee hee

Was he lying? Nope - that was his reality.

I've seen more than one of those.

"Do you have any health problems?"

Oh, no.

"Do you take any regular medicines?"

Well, now, that's a different story. They don't have high blood pressure because as long as they take their three different pills, they're fine. Or they had high blood pressure six years ago but the doctor gave them a pill and they took that until the bottle ran out and they feel fine so they don't have a health problem.

I try to ask the same thing more than once in more than one way.

I try on a daily basis to remind patients that it's their body and they need to be responsible and proactive and to say that in a way that they'll hear and understand an maybe move a bit closer to being in charge of their own health.