MedicalZebra

I'm a long-term dialysis patient (ten years so far!), and I'm interested in what nurses and techs find annoying about patients. I think if patients knew what aggravated staff, they might be willing to change their behavior so that their time at dial...

I am a dialysis patient who has been told I may need my mitral valve replaced. Since I'm on dialysis, will my recovery take longer? What complications will I need to be on the lookout for? How severe is the pain? (The cardiologist is very vague on...

Thank you ALL for your kind words and condolences. You REALLY have helped me through this difficult time in my life. Sincerely, Rick Dar's Fiancee

I thought I would bring you all up to date on the "prelimary" findings from the Pathologists. The Cardiac Surgeon has been great answering all of my questions and concerns about Darlene's death (MedicalZebra to all of you). He has PERSONALLY contact...

She DID often have trouble with DANGEROUSLY low BP after dialysis sessions. Her sessions usually lasted 4 Hours, 3 Times a week. Her solution to it was unusual but IT WORKED every time: A container of Kool Aid Juice and a candy bar. No one could e...

This is MedicalZebra's Fiance' Rick, I have some questions I need you all to shed light on: 1) Her Mitral Valve Surgery with initially a success. But, her BP was never really that high and eventually got to Hypotension levels. One of you mentioned ...

Just in case I did this wrong the first time (I'm sure I did). The poster you know as MedicalZebra passed away Monday January 30 as a result of complications after a seemingly successful Mitral Valve replacement. The cardiac surgeon was truly perple...

This is the "XX eulogy" I did as one of her final wishes. I'm sharing it with you because it includes something she had written that puts in perspective why she so vigorously sought out sites likes yours. I can't thank you all enough for all the help...

Thank you all for your well wishes and condolences. I loved her dearly and know that you helped in ways no one else could when she was here. Wake is tommorow and Funeral is Friday. Thank you again. I will check back in on her sign in if that's OK -...

On January 30, 2006 the poster you know as "MedicalZebra" passed away due to complications that followed a seeminly sucessful Mitral Valve replacement. I am her Fiance' and I must say it happened very quickly and the cardiac surgeon was truly perple...

They accidentally gave me my mother's Valium before my kidney transplant, and I had no time to tell the OR crew about it before they slapped the anesthesia mask on me-- so I got an overdose. They couldn't wake me up post-op, and my vital signs were ...

At the dialysis unit I go to, patients have to walk through the cloud of nurses' smoke to get into the building-- and when the nurses come back from their smoke breaks, that's all you can smell. Not too many paients who smoke ever sucessfully give i...

I had a cardiac cath with an AngioSeal-- and they still kept me in bed for 6 hours! I thought the whole idea behind the plug was to avoid that-- and it was never explained to me why it was done. The nurse at the end of the night had no idea why I'd...

I'm a dialysis patient, and there is absolutely NO privacy in the unit-- I hear everyone's business whether I want to or not when the neprologists make rounds-- all of our dialysis chairs are about three feet apart and it's impossible not to hear pat...

Well, I had the cardiac cath on Friday-- and needed SIX doses of Versed plus a Valium-- and I still was screaming! I thoroughly scared the hell out of everyone in the cath room! I don't think there's any doubt that I need more anesthesia than what ...

In the unit I formerly dialyzed in (and this is one of the MANY reasons I switched units!), a patient had died because the nurse who initiated his treatment had grabbed a syringe of lidocaine instead of heparin-- his heart stopped in the unit and the...

In 1990, I was thinking about getting married and having a baby. I'd just had a kidney transplant two years before and still had Medicare and CommonHealth (the Medicaid for working people). The transplant clinic told me I should be able to have a '...

I never heard that the right to privacy only exists for people with private insurance! I am a frequent patient at a teaching hospital, and even though I am a Medicaid patient (ESRD eligibility), I have always been asked if it's ok for students to obs...

I was diagnosed with it after a kidney transplant-- high doses of prednisone seemed to be the cause. My eyes changed color (from light brown to black) and I also had a change in blood pressure-- my normal pressure was 150/100 but when my 'guest perso...

Hello again, everyone! Well, I had the TEE... what a NIGHTMARE! Even though I told them that I needed extra anesthesia, apparently they didn't believe me. Result: I woke up MULTIPLE times during the procedure and tried to pull the probe out of my ...

That was on an episode of ER-- Garrett Morris played a cranky old man, and the nurse used a sunflower instead of a carnation :)

Thanks so much for your reply, heartnurseinva. :) Yes, I'm on hemo... I will be having my treatment directly before the TEE on December 8, which is when they will find out whether they need to replace the valve. Since I have a pork allergy, I'm h...

I'm a dialysis patient (13 years so far), and I got the flu shot for the first 10 years. Result: Sick as a dog for a week after the shot. I have declined the flu shot for the last 3 years and have not gotten the flu. Here's my question: In our uni...

Rationing of dialysis...whether for economic or quality of life reasons.

I had to have an IJ placed due to kidney transplant rejection, and while the catheter was being shoved into my neck, a nurse standing to my left said, loud enough for the whole OR to hear, "Well, that's what happens when you don't take your meds like...