Manning for US hospital

[snowbird]

Snow, with all due respect, it kinda hard to tell if somebody have ah headache yuh know.

Yuh cyar see ah headache. Yuh cyar feel another person headache.

O.K...... in the case of my mother she could articulate (with difficulty) during the minutes she was having her stroke what she was going though..... a headache was not one of them.

With regard to not being able to ...see a headache. ...These days I am not sure if they can't....

The reason why I say that is because.....there are now 'screening devices' that can detect pain.... and also show 'levels of pain'.

.... (I have been having some health challenges recently)..... just before Christmas I had to be taken to the 'emerg' as I was experiencing some intense pain and swelling in one of my hands and arms
.... one of the 'ultra sounds' they did was able to pick up and register the intense pain I was feeling in certain areas of the hand

While having some tests done..... when I told the technician.... "WOW...that area is sooooooo painful", he said to me....."Yes I know.... I can see from the screen.....see those emoticons of 'flames' that appear whenever I go over that area (he drew my attention to the screen)...that tells me that there is greater pain in that area"..... I thought to myself..... man, they can now identify and measure painful areas in your body.... good for them.

[bigzack]

. (I have been having some health challenges recently)..... just before Christmas I had to be taken to the 'emerg' as I was experiencing some intense pain and swelling in one of my hands and arms
.... one of the 'ultra sounds' they did was able to pick up and register the intense pain I was feeling in certain areas of the hand

Use ah straw Snow.

Use ah straw.

Yuh suffering from "intensive shot glass lifting" in that hand.

[letric]

backside

​amzzz ........ He is my Cardiologist for over 14 years!

[Angie]

Snow, let me describe what happens at the onset of a stroke from my experience;

1. I felt a very brief, sharp and intense pain just behind my left ear [to the top part] It was like a zap that lasted not even 1 second. Immediately my hand started rubbing that spot.

2. After that brief zap of pain, there was a tingling along the right side of my body that lasted about 2 minutes and when the tingling started subsiding, the numbness began.

Fortunately, Christal [the one who is the Paramedic] was there with me in the living room and realized what was happening. She ran to the fridge and took out a cold compress and put it on the side of my head where I felt the pain and she called 911. They got me to the Hospital about 15 later.

For me, the time between the onset and getting to the Hospital lasted no more than 25 minutes.

When I got to the Emergency, they took me straight to surgery and using a PET scan, [not an MRI or CT Scan] the Dr. drilled a hole in my skull and removed the clot. No anesthetic was used .. was just shave that part of my head, cut the scalp and drill a hole.

So that pain is not one that persists, it is more like an "ouch" moment!

[Falcon]

So Ang, yuh have diabetes, heart attack, stroke, yuh resurrect..................CroCro did really say the good people die young

[Angie]

So Ang, yuh have diabetes, heart attack, stroke, yuh resurrect..................CroCro did really say the good people die young

Not a heart attack .. the clot formed somewhere near the bifurcation just above the carotid artery

[guyguy]

When I got to the Emergency, they took me straight to surgery and using a PET scan, [not an MRI or CT Scan]

They did a PET scan in the Operating Room?

[Angie]

They did a PET scan in the Operating Room?

YES! They do that. There is also a doppler something or the other that they also use ... I can't remember the name to take images from where the clot was.

[guyguy]

YES! They do that. There is also a doppler something or the other that they also use ... I can't remember the name to take images from where the clot was.

Hmmm .... interesting. What hospital was this?

[Angie]

Duke University Hospital.

[guyguy]

When I got to the Emergency, they took me straight to surgery and using a PET scan, [not an MRI or CT Scan] the Dr. drilled a hole in my skull and removed the clot. No anesthetic was used .. was just shave that part of my head, cut the scalp and drill a hole.

I don't fully understand the sequence of events here so let me see if I have it correct:

1. You arrived at Duke's ER
2. They diagnosed you as having had a stroke
3. They immediately took you to the OR
4. They placed you into a PET scanner and did a PET scan
5. The PET scanner showed that you had a clot in your brain
6. While in the scanner, the surgeon opened up your skull and removed the clot.

Am I right so far?

A. Did they give you any medication?
B. Before doing the PET scan, did they inject you with anything at all?
C. Do you remember how long the PET scan took?
D. Did the surgeon perform the embolectomy during or after the PET scan?

[Angie]

I don't fully understand the sequence of events here so let me see if I have it correct:

I am going back to 9 years ago to try and remember everything eh;

1. You arrived at Duke's ER
2. They diagnosed you as having had a stroke

How to put this .. I heard just about everything that was being said between a Dr. [don't know his name] and the Paramedic on the way, it was pretty clear to them that it was a stroke.

3. They immediately took you to the OR

To the ER first and stroke confirmed while I was in Triage.

4. They placed you into a PET scanner and did a PET scan

YES! There was a machine that they used before the PET, a doppler something that showed the clot

5. The PET scanner showed that you had a clot in your brain

NO .. The PET scanner was used after the Dr. said something about needing dimentional images or some thing like that.

6. While in the scanner, the surgeon opened up your skull and removed the clot.

NO!

Am I right so far?

NOPE!

A. Did they give you any medication?

I remember getting something AFTER they removed the clot and I was taken to a room.

B. Before doing the PET scan, did they inject you with anything at all?

YES ... I don't know if it was "drips" but I was given something.

C. Do you remember how long the PET scan took?

I was in a warped time zone .. everything they did seemed like it was taking forever.

D. Did the surgeon perform the embolectomy during or after the PET scan?

Just after.

[guyguy]

Hmmm ... interesting that 9 years ago they would perform a PET scan after an intracranial doppler ultrasound as a second-line diagnostic method vs the more commonly accepted and highly accurate CT scan with & without x-ray contrast.

[snowbird]

Use ah straw Snow.

Use ah straw.

Yuh suffering from "intensive shot glass lifting" in that hand.

den ah musbe drinkin it right from de..... vat.....cus sometimes de ache is in meh back too

comin tuh tink of it....maybe daz de cause ah de.....dizziness


(boy ole age is hell lo ....especially when you are dealing with traditional medical Practitioners.... ah tired ah dis ......" process of elimination" dey doz do..... ah givin dem till de Spring....an if dey kar fine out wha wrong wid meh....'Ah goin tuh ah Obeah Man' ....fer ah ....bush bath'.....rof

Oh Ang....the treatment my mom had was very different..... no operation and ting (maybe she suffered a different type of stroke)..... can't remember....but I think she had either a CT scan or MRI ....I forget which.... then she was put on some heavy duty medication....Sounds like you went through some intensive stuff.

[Angie]

Hmmm ... interesting that 9 years ago they would perform a PET scan after an intracranial doppler ultrasound as a second-line diagnostic method vs the more commonly accepted and highly accurate CT scan with & without x-ray contrast.

Guy, I do not question any Dr. on how they chose to deal with any medical problem I have. Maybe it was a faster way to go to in determining where the clot was, the size of it etc. so they'll know exactly what they are dealing with prior to removing the clot. I do not know. Maybe they chose that way rather giving me meds to dissolve the clot. I don't know.

The way I see it, they dealt with it the best way they see fit at the time to minimize the damage that could be done, and for that I am very grateful.


BTW ah hear they are using "stem cells" to treat stroke victims now at that same Hospital. Presumably it is to regenerate cell growth to replace those that were destroyed after the stroke.

[snowbird]

.... I do not question any Dr. on how they chose to deal with any medical problem I have....

Surrender yourself to the Gods?

[Angie]

den ah musbe drinkin it right from de..... vat.....cus sometimes de ache is in meh back too

comin tuh tink of it....maybe daz de cause ah de.....dizziness


(boy ole age is hell lo ....especially when you are dealing with traditional medical Practitioners.... ah tired ah dis ......" process of elimination" dey doz do..... ah givin dem till de Spring....an if dey kar fine out wha wrong wid meh....'Ah goin tuh ah Obeah Man' ....fer ah ....bush bath'.....rof

Oh Ang....the treatment my mom had was very different..... no operation and ting (maybe she suffered a different type of stroke)..... can't remember....but I think she had either a CT scan or MRI ....I forget which.... then she was put on some heavy duty medication....Sounds like you went through some intensive stuff.

Maybe if I was taken to Wake Med, which is a like a "General Hospital" where all my Drs are, they would have done things differently ... Where I was taken, that Dep't deal with ONLY stroke victims.

I was taken to Duke, which is a "specialty" Hospital and most of their Drs are interns and some of whom are in the R&D Dept.

[Angie]

Surrender yourself to the Gods?

Snow, I am blessed to have a Cardiologist who spent about 20 years as a GP, and in every medical situation, he is the FIRST person who gets called and he takes a hands on approach.

I would literally put my life in that man's hands ... no questions asked.

[guyguy]

Angie,
Since 1990 I've been to Duke & Wake on many occasions where I trained the surgeons, techs and nurses on using our company's equipment in the OR, Radiology, and other departments. I even recommended a couple of techs from Duke to our company and they were hired.

Nine years ago, PET scanning was in its infancy regarding stroke research and the exam took a very long time to complete, plus, the images were not even close to the quality of a CT or MRI scan. The three premiere methods of diagnostic imaging for intracerebral imaging were Intracerebral Angiography, CTA & MRA, of which CTA & MRA were also relatively new. Today, the three key diagnostic imaging modalities are CT Angiography (CTA) & Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), and Intracerebral Angiography. I think that you may have misinterpreted what type of scan you had. It doesn't seem remotely plausible that 9 years ago they'd forego a CT or MRI or even an Intracerebral Angiogram, which are much faster and accurate, in favour of a PET scan which was slower and far more expensive. But, I could be wrong.

[Angie]

Angie,
Since 1990 I've been to Duke & Wake on many occasions where I trained the surgeons, techs and nurses on using our company's equipment in the OR, Radiology, and other departments. I even recommended a couple of techs from Duke to our company and they were hired.

Nine years ago, PET scanning was in its infancy regarding stroke research and the exam took a very long time to complete, plus, the images were not even close to the quality of a CT or MRI scan. The three premiere methods of diagnostic imaging for intracerebral imaging were Intracerebral Angiography, CTA & MRA, of which CTA & MRA were also relatively new. Today, the three key diagnostic imaging modalities are CT Angiography (CTA) & Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), and Intracerebral Angiography. I think that you may have misinterpreted what type of scan you had. It doesn't seem remotely plausible that 9 years ago they'd forego a CT or MRI or even an Intracerebral Angiogram, which are much faster and accurate, in favour of a PET scan which was slower and far more expensive. But, I could be wrong.

It is possible in the midst of the confusion and fear I could have misinterpreted the type of scan or scans, all I can say is what I can recollect from all that I was able to hear but I distinctly remember hearing the Drs. talk about dimensional images, I know I heard the word PET, I can't remember the name of the Doppler thingy. I know there was a lot more that was said but I don't know what was said.

PS, I just checked with my ex-husband and he said it was a PET scan they used.

[amzz]

oops

[Angie]

oops

r u okay? rol

[amzz]

manning arrive yet?

[Angie]

manning arrive yet?

Yes!

[guyguy]

PS, I just checked with my ex-husband and he said it was a PET scan they used.

A CT scan was, until recently, known as a CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scan so maybe your ex-husband heard them talking about a CAT scan and was thinking about a pet.