Nightshade1972

I once read about a guy who showed up at his local ER, screaming and hollering about how his back hurt, it was killing him, he needs treatment *now,* why is the ER staff so rude/slow? Finally, after a few hours, it's his turn to be examined. Suddenl...

I was born with hydrocephalus, caused by aqueductal stenosis. Apparently "water on the brain" is a common colloquial term for hydro, even though it isn't "water" (it's CSF), and it's not "on" the brain, it's "in" the ventricles.

My wife used to do disability hearings in the US. She learned early on that it was better to just ask her claimants to bring their medicine bottles with them to the disability hearing. If they didn't, she'd ask what they were taking, and she'd get ...

Years ago, I was a pediatric patient in the neuro ICU, following brain surgery (hydrocephalus). Some sort of doctor or counselor came into my room to do some cognitive testing. During the day, my covers had gotten pushed down to my ankles, and I wa...

Don't react to anything they say. Let them have the last word. My mother always tried to provoke a response, as "proof" of how mean/rude/unstable/stupid/etc I allegedly was. I learned to just sit there and smile until she wore herself out. When s...

I think Cornerstone was the place that kept pestering us when my inlaws had their final illnesses. My inlaws knew they were reaching a point that they could no longer live independently. At the time, my wife traveled a lot for work. With my inlaws...

I'm reminded of one of my MIL's hospital visits. My inlaws lived alone, confident they could take care of themselves. My wife would visit every weekend, usually Saturday. Sometimes I'd come, sometimes not. Anyway, MIL reached a point where she wa...

My mother was one of the unit clerks at the ED in a hospital in suburban Chicago. The entire staff figured out in advance who had four-wheel drive, and who lived close to who, so that on bad weather days they could coordinate. Sometimes that meant ...

My husband once had a claimant who had something like 27 cocaine-related heart admissions in 24 weeks. He still couldn't get a clue.

I'm reminded of some of the claimants my husband's dealt with over the years (he helps ppl file for disability). Hubby looks through their history, and asks them about their high blood pressure and their diabetes. They insist they "don't have" HBP/...

My MIL was overmedicated for many years, because neither she nor my FIL understood that (for example) Warfarin and coumadin are the same drug--and that wasn't the only drug that happened with. When she finally had a medical emergency and the hospita...

My husband's a non-attorney hearing representative. He goes in front of a Social Security judge to explain why his claimant deserves disability benefits. Several of his clients over the years have had an order for alcohol in their chart, for the sa...

I know I posted a comment about this a while ago, on a different thread, but this reminds me of an article I read, about 30 yrs ago, about emotional child abuse. One of the anecdotes was about an elementary school-aged girl who apparently broke her ...

My mother trained to be a music teacher, but when I (her first child) was born with hydrocephalus, after she left student teaching (back then, you couldn't teach and be pregnant at the same time--I'm 44 yo) she stayed home with me for ten months, the...

I'm usually already anesthetized before they put the Foley in (I've had multiple surgeries). After I wake up and the catheter's been removed, the first couple of times I have to pee it burns/stings like hell--first pee is the worst, then the discomf...

Aww, thank you. I've been through 17 shunt surgeries (I'm hydrocephalic), so my pain tolerance is higher than most ppl, but after the hysterectomy I was popping the hydrocodone like candy. Take two, fall asleep for a few hours, wake up, take two mo...

I have fibromyalgia. Many years ago, my PCP gave me a script for hydrocodone, which I rarely used--it makes me loopy, but does very little to actually relieve the pain. I had a total abdominal hysterectomy 12 years ago. As I was leaving the hospita...

This. I wonder if the OP misheard, and the instructor was talking about dispensing Tylenol *with codeine*. OTC Tylenol I'd have no problem giving to a friend/family member, but if I have a personal prescription for Tylenol with codeine, and a frien...

About 30 years ago, I read an article about emotional child abuse. Two of the stories which stuck with me: An elementary schoolteacher found one of her students crying silently in a corner, after recess. The child ended up at the hospital with a br...

My husband and I are good friends with a couple, the wife's a nurse. The Army paid for her nursing education. Something to think about, if cost is a factor for you.

I have hydrocephalus and epilepsy, and my husband travels a lot for work. Some kind of alert system is on my to-do list, but right now we really can't afford it. If I passed out while hubby was gone, I'd just have to wait to come to before calling ...

My husband helps ppl file for disability. He had one claimant whose records were full of "liver damage" comments, going back many years. During her hearing, the judge mentioned "cirrhosis," which, obviously, is a term for a specific type of liver d...

Oops, didn't mean to double-post, my bad.

My MIL was in the hospital a few years ago. Multiple times, a health professional would come into the room, talk to my inlaws for a while, then ask if they had any questions. My inlaws always said "No." As soon as the health professional left the ...

My mother used to work as a unit clerk in a hospital ER in suburban Chicago. She tells me that, during the winter, hospital personnel would fill syringes with alcohol and shoot them into their car door locks to get them unfrozen. She's also a big c...