Sunday, June 29, 2008

glad to be wrong

It's interesting how when you're in nursing school you see disease and injury lurking behind every ache and pain....normally I can laugh it off....like when Jason asks why my back hurts, I answer cavalierly "end stage renal failure" ...it makes him laugh. I don't normally diagnose my family and friends (well as far as they know...I keep it to myself, like when a friend who was hoarse the other day said it could be allergies, but my thought was hmmm, maybe it's a thoracic aneurysm...I kept that thought to myself, because I'd like to keep my friends) Any how...yesterday, Jason complained a bit, and only after some prodding on my part because frankly he's been a bit of a pill the last couple of days, about some abdominal pain....lower right quadrant abdominal pain. I palpated and he had rebound tenderness a bit lower then McBurny's point (how techie do I sound?)...BUT he didn't have a fever and he didn't have any of the other GI symptoms...BUT not everyone has the other symptoms which makes appendicitis so tricky.

So, much to his chagrin, I made him go to the ER.
We were upfront that this was most likely me, student nurse, being too paranoid. I was assured that I had about two more years of being overly careful and then I'll swing to, 'You have to be dieing to get sympathy or treatment from me" They patted Jason on the back and gave him lots of kudos to sticking with me during these 'crazy' years.....But he did have that rebound tenderness, and some iffy blood work (but about his kidneys not about his appendix) So they did a CT scan, and gave him some IV fluids and we sat and sat and sat, played some scrabble on Jason's PDA and sat AND thankfully I was wrong.

woo hoo
Anyhow, he just has to go get his kidney function levels checked with his regular doctor this week. And of course if he spikes a fever or the pain gets worse then we go back. They said they had no idea what the pain was, maybe scarring (Jason gave his mom a kidney 9 years ago and as time goes on scarring can accumulate), it could just be a mild upset that will work itself out, WHO KNOWS....but for now he's okay and NOW HE CAN GET BACK TO REMODELLING THE BATHROOM!

8 comments:

OHN said...

I had to laugh while reading this. when I started in a nursing school a million years ago I diagnosed all of my family and was never right. Hey at least I cared.

Glad the big guy is ok and can finish the bathroom. I bet he was faking ;)

tz said...

I did tell him that he was willing to go to serious lengths to get out of remodelling the bathroom...and before anyone thinks I'm a nag...the master bath has been gutted since before Christmas...

Rock Chef said...

My mom was a nurse back in the '50s and every time someone has a cough, ache, dizzy spell, etc, she tells them they are dying. Of course, although she is falling apart at the seams (arthritis, fluid retention, dodgy heart...) none of this is really a problem, she is fine - I am the one with TB!

Gotta love nurses!

Anonymous said...

Both of Hubby's sister are RN's of long, long standing. They never comment on our maladies. But, that doesn't stop me from discussing our symptoms in front of them and then watching their faces to see if I can read shock, fear, horror or just plain old concern. If I don't see any of those, I figure it can't be tooo bad, or they would say, "Get to the ER NOW!" In fact, I usually see amusement on their faces. I think they've figured out my strategy! God bless nurses.

Jenelle said...

Good for you for checking it out. Last summer my hubby only had a bit of the symptoms and I wanted him to ride it out. 15 hours in ER later they finally did the CT and figured out it was an appendicitis. They still didn't believe it and cut him open just in case it was his gall bladder. Silly docs. Glad my hubby was persistent.

Now back to the bathroom.

tz said...

chief rock...now that's funny, I do think it's easier to concentrate on others then on oneself, especially if you don't want to see what's going on w/ yourself....and hmmm persistant cough? I think she may be right, better get that TB looked at ;)

addhumorandfaith....jason's family and my family are now asking me nursing questions...and I KEEP telling them I'm just a student and know NOTHING...

janelle...it is important to stick to your guns, especially when you feel something is off...good for your hubby to do that..and you were in the ER for 15 hours or you went 15 hours after the pain started? 15 hours in the ER before a CT scan is a little scary.

tz said...

very true scott...and I'm certainly glad it's not my job to diagnose...that would scare me

although it is fun to go through the list while watching House and try and figure it out...and it's even more fun when I get to say to hubby..."oh that's not right or they wouldn't do that, or that can't happen"

Ken said...

You see us in action - maybe it's this, maybe it's that. And of course, we have no medical background at all so it's mostly guessing. Good luck on getting the bathroom back.