I have two issues, related to the holidays and emergency medical care.
Number one: if you have a relative who always seems to need a trip to the ER on major holidays, consider that there may be an underlying psychiactric problem, ranging from minor (narcissim) to serious (major depression). Any good ER is going to do a very thorough evaluation first, but if this is their 5th trip on a major holiday, we’re probably going to bring it up.
Number two: Loved One (LO) in the nursing home looks a lot worse this holiday as compared with the last one. We know. You should also be aware that the best indicator of how they usually are is the staff themselves. Sending LO to the ER should be done only after a chat both with LO’s doctor and regular nurses. Azygous has a nice post on this (but I cannot find it, his blog isn’t yet searchable).
Anyway, enjoy your Thanksgiving. All of us in the ER will be waiting for you!
I have not been able to figure out how to get a search tag to search the site. The only one blog-city provides searches the entire internet.
Any suggestions?
The entry you refer to is “Time for a trip to the ER” under the observations category. The entry is not for everybody and is a little over the top with “R” rated language. I need to clean it up a bit.
Saw a young patient in the ER (his 3rd Thanksgiving ER trip ) with C/O GI problems. A careful history taking revealed that Thanksgiving was the only time of the year he ate onions (in his mother’s dressing) – a food he normally avoids. Three years ago, he decided it was rude not to eat the dressing. Did we solve the mistery? We won’t know until next year.