The sunny side of the medical field
I am happy to announce that, although I still don't know exactly what I'm doing in medical oncology, I no longer feel like I'm drowning.
Is that positive, or what?
Some of my favorite stories:
One of my patients reported that when she was first starting chemotherapy infusions, she mentioned to her doctor (Dr W, one of the two that I work with) that she was worried no one was keeping an eye on her mediport site [a mediport is an indwelling IV that can be accessed with a poke of a needle but otherwise is hidden under skin]. He responded, "What do you think the infusion nurses do, throw darts at it?"
I was seeing a follow-up patient for a discussion of chemo treatment after surgery when I learned he was still on meds his surgeon had given him 3 weeks ago. I also simultaneously learned he was having bowel movements every 10 minutes. Guess what pills he was still taking? Stool softeners.
When I was first orienting to the Georgetown hospital, I met with the radiation oncology nurse practitioner, and she shared a fantastic interaction with one of her patients. She had been trying to figure out why this guy kept getting different cancers, so she was asking about exposure to asbestos, lead, a bunch of xrays or CT scans, space walks (for cosmic radiation), etc., and this patient didn't have anything coming up positive. She went and got the radiation oncologist doctor to see if he had any ideas, so they both go back to the patient and ask about his exposure history again, and just like the first time, every reply was no. Then the patient got reflective and said, "Well, there was Chernobyl..."
Sometimes patients get overwhelmed with medical information on the internet, and may make odd choices (not unlike how I feel on looking up how to de-stink my laundry. there are crazy tips out there). So when one of my patients informed me that she had cut out all sugars in her diet because she found out cancer feeds on sugar, I thought it important to note to her that, as far as physiology goes, her normal healthy cells run on sugar, too. I encourage the general idea of cutting down on processed sugar intake, but I don't really see sugar elimination as sustainable (if you're particular, there's sugar in fruit and milk and grain and basically everything), so I offered her a life-line: "You can switch out processed sugar for more natural alternatives like honey or fruits." She was super excited about this. "Oh my gosh, that means I can put honey on my oatmeal!"
#savedalife
Is that positive, or what?
Some of my favorite stories:
One of my patients reported that when she was first starting chemotherapy infusions, she mentioned to her doctor (Dr W, one of the two that I work with) that she was worried no one was keeping an eye on her mediport site [a mediport is an indwelling IV that can be accessed with a poke of a needle but otherwise is hidden under skin]. He responded, "What do you think the infusion nurses do, throw darts at it?"
I was seeing a follow-up patient for a discussion of chemo treatment after surgery when I learned he was still on meds his surgeon had given him 3 weeks ago. I also simultaneously learned he was having bowel movements every 10 minutes. Guess what pills he was still taking? Stool softeners.
When I was first orienting to the Georgetown hospital, I met with the radiation oncology nurse practitioner, and she shared a fantastic interaction with one of her patients. She had been trying to figure out why this guy kept getting different cancers, so she was asking about exposure to asbestos, lead, a bunch of xrays or CT scans, space walks (for cosmic radiation), etc., and this patient didn't have anything coming up positive. She went and got the radiation oncologist doctor to see if he had any ideas, so they both go back to the patient and ask about his exposure history again, and just like the first time, every reply was no. Then the patient got reflective and said, "Well, there was Chernobyl..."
Sometimes patients get overwhelmed with medical information on the internet, and may make odd choices (not unlike how I feel on looking up how to de-stink my laundry. there are crazy tips out there). So when one of my patients informed me that she had cut out all sugars in her diet because she found out cancer feeds on sugar, I thought it important to note to her that, as far as physiology goes, her normal healthy cells run on sugar, too. I encourage the general idea of cutting down on processed sugar intake, but I don't really see sugar elimination as sustainable (if you're particular, there's sugar in fruit and milk and grain and basically everything), so I offered her a life-line: "You can switch out processed sugar for more natural alternatives like honey or fruits." She was super excited about this. "Oh my gosh, that means I can put honey on my oatmeal!"
#savedalife
Loved this blog! As a former chemo patient, and surgery patient, I can really relate to these experiences!! Lol 😆
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