Something one never wants to hear at the doctor's office.

[In_The_Wind]

[sarge43]

1. Another, during a sonogram

"What the hell is that?!"

[grasswire]

2. that happened to me recently.

I was hooked up to the ECG machine in the clinic. The technician exclaimed: "I've never seen anything like that before!" and rushed from the room to get someone else. Came back in, and ran a strip and rushed it out of the room again.

Of course I knew (and the young tech didn't know) that the machine wasn't properly hooked up and was giving her a weird pattern.

But it did give me a start for a moment.

[Locut0s]

5. That, or your insides really do look like a test pattern. ;)

[Aristus]

12. Someone should have explained to the technician:

"If you've never seen anything like that before, then it's called 'artifact'. Don't freak out the patient like that!"

[grasswire]

16. I did mention that to my PCP the next visit.

You know something else weird about that experience?

I asked for a copy of the 12 lead. I never saw anything like this: at the top of my very normal sinus rhythm tracing, was the printed diagnosis: "Sinus tachycardia with 2nd degree AV block with 2.1 AV conduction. Cannot rule out interior infarct, age undetermined. Abnormal ECG."

The cardiologist I was seeing that day crossed that stuff out, and wrote NSR, HR 65/min.

How can that machine mis-diagnose an NSR? Or was it diagnosing the artifact??

[libodem]

21. Maybe a loose lead?

Those things do not always stick. A hairy chest is a nightmare for both parties involved.

[leftyohiolib]

3. if only you had that looked at earlier

[In_The_Wind]

4. Sigh!!!

BTW ... I'm feeling fine.

[leftyohiolib]

9. im glad youre feeling fine - sounds like you misunderstand the post- for me the worst thing a dr

could say to me is "if you only had that looked at earlier" meaning something terrible is wrong with me and that if i had it looked at earlier it could have been treated but now not so treatable

[In_The_Wind]

10. That would be a bad thing to hear. I understood you.

[leftyohiolib]

14. oh ok im sorry if i irritated you it wasnt my intention

[In_The_Wind]

15. Oh my. No not at all.

I just didn't want to worry anyone. We all know how sometimes things become misunderstood.
I should have made my comment back to myself instead of adding it back to you.

[leftyohiolib]

20. thank-you ...nt

[Locut0s]

6. A DR tried to remove a cyst on my father's back...

1/2 way through the procedure he said "well I guess I better close this up before I make a real mess of your back". If I heard that I'd be

[cliffordu]

7. I was getting ready to have an EPIC cyst drained and the

Doc said "THIS is really going to fucking hurt. I don't know if you'll pass out or not."

He was standing above me with a syringe of local anesthetic.

I've had those things hurt before but that shot REALLY got my attention........

[Locut0s]

8. TMI but I just had a large pilonidal cyst drained...

About a month ago when we got back from Hawaii I developed a really large pilonidal cyst and even had a low grade fever accompanying it. I was hoping the thing would drain on its own as previous ones had but this one didn't and was far more painful than anything previous. So after a day or so I HAD to get to the clinic, I was having trouble even walking. The DR never mentioned anything about pain and while I used to be deathly afraid of needles I've since completely overcome that fear, so I wasn't expecting that much in the way of pain. After all they were anesthetizing the area. Haha lol that anesthetic shot and the massaging of the area after!

[In_The_Wind]

11. Holy crap!

[Locut0s]

17. Yeah and he left a scar too...

Of course DRs range in skill like any other profession but they are dealing with your body, a screwup here is rather more permanent and personal. We kind of just assume all DRs are pros but as difficult as it is to get through med school we all know those fellow dunderhead classmates who somehow scraped by with C's and got a degree. Now image that guy performing surgery on you.

[Aristus]

13. I have a standard panel of jokes that I use with patients.

But they're harmless, and are obviously jokes. I don't want to freak out my patients.

One of my standard jokes is, when washing my hands to do an examination:

"I washed my hands yesterday, but you can't be too careful."

[Locut0s]

18. This wasn't a joke though...

I prefer DRs to have a sense of humour like you. But he really meant this and ended up leaving a scar.

[mythology]

19. I've heard a couple of not so good things from doctors

"Oh that is your lung not your liver." Fortunately this was while looking at an MRI, not say during surgery. Needless to say, I didn't go back to that doctor.

"Your knee is interesting" This was after an MRI that showed I had been walking on a fractured tibia, a torn knee ligament, multiple places with no cartilage, a different previously unknown mostly healed torn ligament, and a couple of other things. You really want the doctor to find you nice and boring.

And then from the orthopedic surgeon I went to after the above knee MRI: "Maybe you should consider giving up training" That was the worst. The entire point of going to a specialist in sports medicine is that they would understand the desire to get back to training.

And while not from a human doctor, a vet once refused to give one of our dogs painkillers after having stitches put in next to his eye and having his dew claws removed. The dew claws were only removed because he ripped one almost all the way out. But the vet said that the dog didn't need painkillers because he was a big dog. Unfortunately the dog was just about the biggest wimp imaginable.

Some doctors just aren't meant to work with patients.