Friday, July 22, 2011

Urgent matters

Last night I saw a hospital consult, with the following admission note:

"On Saturday, while packing his car, he suddenly felt lightheaded, followed by right-sided weakness and slurred speech. He didn't seek medical attention at the time. In fact, he and his wife drove to Connecticut that day for a short vacation. All symptoms have since persisted, and upon returning to Grumpyville this afternoon they went home, unpacked, and then came to ER for evaluation."

20 comments:

SuFu PhD said...

At least you don't have to have the tPA discussion...

thatsit said...

uh, what? Does.not.compute..

Anonymous said...

Priorities

Officer Cynical said...

It's always either the vacation or retirement that gets you.

Polly said...

Oh, come on. It's not like Connecticut is still there or anything....

PA Honeybee said...

Hmmm.....I hope they weren't driving from the west coast! (As if the situation isn't bad enough) Any explanation as to why this sudden onset of symptoms didn't raise a red flag?

Anonymous said...

So, what would the $cost have been if they came right away?

And the $cost when they waited?

Not taking into account the $cost of their "vacation"

Is this one reason health care is so expensive here?

bobbie said...

Stoopid is as stoopid does...

Packer said...

If he was over 78, oh well..;)

I like the way Grumpy seemlessly moves from medical issues of great weight into the following day where you just smile and wonder.

Li'l Azathoth said...

They were originally headed to Vermont, but he couldn't get out of the right lane.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like American Heart Association (or another health care group) could spend some money on an ad campaign about strokes. We have the posters up in the ER about 'every second counts' but that's not where those with risks hang out. Maybe posters in gas stations? Next to the snuff and the handsome Marlboro man? This problems of folks delaying treatment for brain injury because they're not aware enough to get help is a recurrent theme.

Margaret said...

I'm sure he thought he was just fine. :p

Anonymous said...

I hope he likes those symptoms. I have a feeling he may have made sure they stick with him.

Anonymous said...

I have heard PSAs on my local radio about "every second counts" some SOMEone out there is trying to get the message out to the general public. Not sure it would've helped this guy--sounds like he was in denial

Mal said...

At that late point, why go to the ER at all?

Not an MD, but I would think that after several days (or more) it was no longer a time-critical situation.

Anonymous said...

My aunt had a heart attack on a Thursday. She didn't know it was a heart attack - she just felt kind of crummy. She didn't go to the doc until Monday because she had made a commitment to volunteer at church on Saturday. Then she had to fight to get out of the hospital. She is a tough lady.

Anonymous said...

Cut the guy some slack. Maybe his wife would have given him terrible grief if he hadn't agreed to go to CT.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's a misunderstanding.

His wife said "You should get a CT" and he thought she said "you should go to CT".

terri c said...

Well... at least they unpacked before heading to the ED. Wonder if he drove on the trip?

cliffintokyo said...

"Better late than never, but better never late", as my teacher used to say.
(Or too late, I should add, because it will probably lead inexorably to 'never, never' and 'the late......').
Must be stubborn as a rusty bolt......or just no insurance perhaps?

 
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