The Residents
Sandra's post about Joseph's eye exam and their experience with the Opthamologist Resident got me thinking about an experience with two Residents we had at the hospital when Brendon was first diagnosed.
When Brendon was admitted to Children's once they determined in the ER that he had diabetes, they did an EKG to make sure there was no damage done to his heart due to the dehydration he endured as he was DKA at the time.
The next day, the Endocrinologist came to the room with two Residents to discuss some information about Brendon's general condition and how we were coping with all that was being thrown at us.
The day after that, those two Residents came to the hospital room, knocked on the door, entered and just stood there. We smiled at them...they smiled back...and one of the Residents started rocking on their heels.
"Um, is there something you need to tell us?", I asked because they apparently weren't offering up the information.
"We're just waiting" said the Resident who took the intiative to be the spokesperson.
"Waiting for what?"
"For the results from Cardiology to come up."
"Oh really?? Is everything OK?"
"There was an anomaly on the printout."
"An anomaly? Why is there an anomaly?"
"We don't know. We haven't gotten word from Cardiology yet. That's why we're waiting".
Jeff stormed out of the room while the Residents nonchalantly stood there "waiting".
I of course became a wreck all over again...actually I was a wreck all along.....but, the difference this time was instead of being greatful to all of the wonderful doctors and nurses for their care, I was pissed as hell at these two idiots. Why did they have to wait in the room with us? Why didn't they have the information already in hand before coming to us? Why were they torturing us like this?
Jeff had the Endo paged and the Endo came soon after. We asked him about the anomaly.
"What anomaly?", the Endo asked.
"You don't know about it?", I asked.
"No"
Then he turned to the Residents to find out what the hell was going on and why would they know about this when he didn't.
The spokesperson Resident spoke up and said:
"Well, we wanted to be thorough and receive all test results. When we inquired about the EKG results, the Cardiologist said there was a problem on the read out, so we asked to have them delivered up here."
Once that was said, the Endo brought the two Residents out to the hallway to have a word with them and I never saw the two thoughtless goons again.
The Endo went to Cardiology to find out for himself what happened and came back with the news.....
"See these peaks? These are the heart beats and they should come to a straight point at the top. But, see this one here? This one has a very slight curve at the top. This is an indication that he has Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome. Cardiology wants Brendon to go through another EKG to confirm the results. We basically know he has it, but they want to see another set of results just as a backup since they consider the first test to be a baseline."
I was reeling from the news. He has diabetes and now a heart condition? How much more can this poor kid take?
In the end, Brendon with his toddler ways, refused to stay still for the EKG and they gave up. Cardiology did, though, send us home with a 24 heart monitor attached to him so that it could record his heart beats. I had to record every action he took, every hour, for 24 hours.
There were no anomalies on the readings. It doesn't mean he doesn't have the condition as it has a tendency to be elusive that way, but, to this day, he has to see a Cardiologist for annual checkups.
When Brendon was admitted to Children's once they determined in the ER that he had diabetes, they did an EKG to make sure there was no damage done to his heart due to the dehydration he endured as he was DKA at the time.
The next day, the Endocrinologist came to the room with two Residents to discuss some information about Brendon's general condition and how we were coping with all that was being thrown at us.
The day after that, those two Residents came to the hospital room, knocked on the door, entered and just stood there. We smiled at them...they smiled back...and one of the Residents started rocking on their heels.
"Um, is there something you need to tell us?", I asked because they apparently weren't offering up the information.
"We're just waiting" said the Resident who took the intiative to be the spokesperson.
"Waiting for what?"
"For the results from Cardiology to come up."
"Oh really?? Is everything OK?"
"There was an anomaly on the printout."
"An anomaly? Why is there an anomaly?"
"We don't know. We haven't gotten word from Cardiology yet. That's why we're waiting".
Jeff stormed out of the room while the Residents nonchalantly stood there "waiting".
I of course became a wreck all over again...actually I was a wreck all along.....but, the difference this time was instead of being greatful to all of the wonderful doctors and nurses for their care, I was pissed as hell at these two idiots. Why did they have to wait in the room with us? Why didn't they have the information already in hand before coming to us? Why were they torturing us like this?
Jeff had the Endo paged and the Endo came soon after. We asked him about the anomaly.
"What anomaly?", the Endo asked.
"You don't know about it?", I asked.
"No"
Then he turned to the Residents to find out what the hell was going on and why would they know about this when he didn't.
The spokesperson Resident spoke up and said:
"Well, we wanted to be thorough and receive all test results. When we inquired about the EKG results, the Cardiologist said there was a problem on the read out, so we asked to have them delivered up here."
Once that was said, the Endo brought the two Residents out to the hallway to have a word with them and I never saw the two thoughtless goons again.
The Endo went to Cardiology to find out for himself what happened and came back with the news.....
"See these peaks? These are the heart beats and they should come to a straight point at the top. But, see this one here? This one has a very slight curve at the top. This is an indication that he has Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome. Cardiology wants Brendon to go through another EKG to confirm the results. We basically know he has it, but they want to see another set of results just as a backup since they consider the first test to be a baseline."
I was reeling from the news. He has diabetes and now a heart condition? How much more can this poor kid take?
In the end, Brendon with his toddler ways, refused to stay still for the EKG and they gave up. Cardiology did, though, send us home with a 24 heart monitor attached to him so that it could record his heart beats. I had to record every action he took, every hour, for 24 hours.
There were no anomalies on the readings. It doesn't mean he doesn't have the condition as it has a tendency to be elusive that way, but, to this day, he has to see a Cardiologist for annual checkups.
posted by Shannon at
11:40 AM
8 Comments:
I could never work in the medical field. I just do not have the smarts. But really, I would know better then to do what those Residents did. GRR!
By
Anonymous, at 11/30/2006 12:57 PM
HI, I am a mother of KayLee,,,she was dxd with juvenile diabetes back in 2003 shortly after her 2nd bday. During the time in the er, the physician scolded me moments after the blood results came back positively branding her with the life of diabetes,,,,telling me that my daugther could have possibly went into a coma that night due ot her bs being 940,,,and her ketones being skyhigh!! I was scared to death,,,thinking that it was all my fault that she was so close to death! I had KayLee taken out of that county hospital and to St Louis Childrens Hospital. I've learned to deal with our new lives within the last few years,,,, but that sure didnt make the first few months very smooth!
By
Anonymous, at 11/30/2006 1:29 PM
Seems a prerequisite for many folks in the medical profession is an unnatural level of insensitivity.
Sorry you had to experience this-- especially during such a devastating time for all of you.
Thoughtless goons, indeed.
By
Anonymous, at 11/30/2006 1:34 PM
It is impossible for someone without children to know what us parents go through when our child is ill. Im betting those residents didn’t have children of their own.
By
Anonymous, at 11/30/2006 5:36 PM
Nevermind not having children, how about learning a bit of bedside manner? Jesus. What morons! I would have ripped them a new one. I'm glad your endo did something about it.
By
Major Bedhead, at 11/30/2006 9:03 PM
It's natural and easy to think that all Doctors are caring compassionate individuals. But I feel that just as much as the theory that they learn from books they do have to learn these qualities just like text in a book. Its is a relief to know that there are many Physicians out there that have these qualities and know it is thier duty to pass it on to some "schmuck" who is book smart but not street smart.
The way you handle yourself on here speaks volumes of how awesome of a Mother you are to your children.
Keep it up Shannon.
By
Anonymous, at 11/30/2006 10:17 PM
OMG...Here is one that I hope will make you feel better.
Last week I was whining to my therapist that if my 7 year-old type 1 daughter didn't have her insulin shots she would die. "Some days I just really let that get to me," I admitted to her. She replyed - "But people can live without their spleens, so you really have nothing to worry about..." ARRGGHHH!!!!
By
Michelle, at 12/04/2006 9:52 PM
Michelle, that therapist made NO sense whatsoever. Plus, why would she say something like that in the first place...she's a therapist for chrissakes! I feel your ARRRGGHH!
By
Shannon, at 12/05/2006 8:15 AM
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