As The Hospital Pervs

Status
Not open for further replies.
I did days and nights. Days are way busier than nights ever wanted to be. But nights ends up with trainwrecks with none of the departments you need in house to help out and even fewer doctors.

It's bad both on days and nights just depending on your patients and how sick they are.
I agree and I empathize with the night shifters, they are usually shorter staffed and have 'new nurses' staffing. I never understood why they would hire new graduates for the night shift.

Luckily, for our night shifters they have 24/7 surgical support and residency. CT scan 24 hours, dopplers, and the ability to drop CVC lines via the resident or surgeon. There's no 'calling in' interventional radiology. There may be only one senior resident covering night shift but they manage.

They also have to deal with the confusion and sun-downing patients. I wouldn't want to work a night if they paid me tons of extra money. I like to sleep at night. :heart:
 
HAV: is transmitted via poop, drinking contaminated water, or utensils. It's an acute infection, it doesn't become chronic. It's resolvable. Vaccine is available.

HBC: Is via body fluids, much like HCV and can become chronic, after an acute illness. It's mostly resolvable. Vaccine is available.

HCV: Is via blood to blood mostly. There may not be any acute phase and it can be chronic without any symptoms till later in life. Vaccine is not available.
--
It's not a bad idea to be tested, but know that there are many false positives with the initial lab test and this leads to additional blood testing.

And if a person does test positive: liver precautions-- no booze.

Many people with HCV die from other illness before the HCV kills them. I am not diminishing the virus, but just making a point.
---
The people I see sick from HCV are alcoholics, because not only do they have alcoholic liver failure they have HCV on top of that.

Thank you very much. I'll ask the Dr. about it. I guess I won't worry much, I never drank alcohol or used drugs. But my ex-wife became an alcoholic, so I suppose there is that exposure. If he recommends the test, I guess I'll find out.

I couldn't imagine any reason for the age range, that had me as puzzled as anything. I don't think I've ever seen an announcement like that before. So I was wondering if something like "they used to add XXX to Wheaties/Coke back then" was going to be the explanation.
 
Thank you very much. I'll ask the Dr. about it. I guess I won't worry much, I never drank alcohol or used drugs. But my ex-wife became an alcoholic, so I suppose there is that exposure. If he recommends the test, I guess I'll find out.

I couldn't imagine any reason for the age range, that had me as puzzled as anything. I don't think I've ever seen an announcement like that before. So I was wondering if something like "they used to add XXX to Wheaties/Coke back then" was going to be the explanation.
You are welcome, and remember don't panic. There are many causes of false positives, mostly secondary to lab issues.

Also, just because your ex-wife was an alcoholic doesn't make it a risk factor for you unless she was shooting up intravenous street drugs and was infected herself with the virus. Alcoholic hepatitis alone is not related to Hepatitis C, although the combination progresses the disease.

I think the risk factors for this age range is un-screened blood product administration and the needles used at that time were not disposable for vaccines, etc. The tattoo issue also might be a factor for risk: A group of people tattooing each other without changing equipment.

Like I said the sexual transmission route is low for married couples only sexing with each other. I imagine if you have never had a blood transfusion, no tattoos, and no hospitalization with old fashioned equipment-- your risk factors are low.

It is still a good idea to check it out if the CDC is calling for it. BTW, both of my parents tested positive for HCV and neither of them needed treatment. They were diagnosed just recently and the follow up blood work revealed no viral load. The virus was not detected meaning they were exposed at some point in their life, they have antibodies but not illness. I don't understand the explanation for this.

I have another theory about the CDC: they may be calling for this so that they can get the numbers and compare them to the later generations. Did the rate go down, or did the rate go up status post blood product screening, and an increase intravenous street drug usage as the years went on? That is just a guess on my part.

Another theory: I don't know if the CDC is affiliated with the FDA, but there are new treatments for Hepatitis C-- and since the CDC often recommends treatment courses it's possible they want the numbers for the new medicines, and follow up outcomes. Again this is a guess.

If you do test positive--a referral will most likely be made for a GI doctor. They specialize in this, and understand the follow up blood work according to genotype, and RNA, viral load, etc.

Again: Don't panic #1 there is treatment, #2 for non alcoholics the progression is slow for chronic Hepatitis C, especially if liver function is normal at this time, and without an acute exacerbation of Hepatitis.

:heart:
 
Went in and got the blood test this morning. Asked the nurse about the Hep C thing. She said she thought I'd already had the test. Checked the computer and told me I'd had it 2 years ago. I guess the V.A. does all kinds of tests as long as they have the blood.

The thing I found odd was as my blood was running out into the tube, she says "You have good blood".

Based on looking at it?

I was afraid to show her the urine sample...

Kept thinking of Rodney Dangerfield's line. He said "My doctor told me he wanted a sample of my urine, stool and semen. So I gave him my underwear and left."
 
Went in and got the blood test this morning. Asked the nurse about the Hep C thing. She said she thought I'd already had the test. Checked the computer and told me I'd had it 2 years ago. I guess the V.A. does all kinds of tests as long as they have the blood.

The thing I found odd was as my blood was running out into the tube, she says "You have good blood".

Based on looking at it?

I was afraid to show her the urine sample...

Kept thinking of Rodney Dangerfield's line. He said "My doctor told me he wanted a sample of my urine, stool and semen. So I gave him my underwear and left."
Haha about the underwear! And Ew!

See, no worries about the test, but I imagine they should inform you of what testing they perform on your blood prior to doing the test.

"You have good blood" -- I don't know what that means, maybe you are a good stick with good flow into the tube. Sometimes with high lipids you can actually see it in the tube. I am not sure what she meant!

I am a terrible stick and I never look. :(
 
Haha about the underwear! And Ew!

See, no worries about the test, but I imagine they should inform you of what testing they perform on your blood prior to doing the test.

"You have good blood" -- I don't know what that means, maybe you are a good stick with good flow into the tube. Sometimes with high lipids you can actually see it in the tube. I am not sure what she meant!

I am a terrible stick and I never look. :(

I have great veins for them to stick. Weightlifting does that, and I have always been somewhat of a gym rat. Not the overdone Mr. Olympus variety, just physical fitness and ability to perform. I'd say my body looks more like Robert Conrad from the Wild, Wild West days (a girlfriend told me this once). Not quite as "cut", but then I'm 61. He was in his 30's then. Not many guys my age have visible six pack abs. So I have large blood vessels, easy to get a needle in.

Yeah, I think they should inform me about what tests as well. But they are the VA. Great power with never the same doctor twice is pretty much a guarantee that some things will not be done well. I told them I didn't want the statins for high blood pressure. They prescribed them anyway, mailed them and billed me. And won't take them back. Forget the refund, how do I properly dispose of the damn pills? I don't want to just flush them, I expect that is bad for the fish or something.
 
To alleviate server load, we're slowly closing down any threads with over 5,000 posts.

The new thread is here (clickie!).

As annoying as this may be, phasing out all or most of the active super-long/never-ending threads will increase the forum speed substantially. If you see a thread that's active with more than 5,000 posts, please feel free to PM me with the link.

Please note that these threads are not being removed - just closed to new posts.

Thank you for your patience and kind understanding! :rose:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top