April 25th, 2009 by Trisha Torrey
Note: Swine Flu FAQs updated daily
Plus: Should We Be Afraid of Swine Flu?
While the professionals provide us with statistics about Mexico, Texas, California or other places where patients have contracted swine flu, I actually find I have different questions all together:
- I don’t live in Mexico. Am I at risk for getting swine flu?
- Will my seasonal flu shot protect me?
- I’ve never met a pig in person and don’t expect I’ll meet one anytime soon. Should I be worried about getting flu from a pig?
- And what about my favorite Sunday breakfast – bacon and eggs?
So I went in search of the answers, believing that if I have those questions, you might too. So I put them together in an article along with their answers: Swine Flu FAQs
And as for breakfast? Very crispy please.
February 27th, 2009 by Trisha Torrey
A friend and colleague, Franny, shared her story with me and caused my jaw to drop. Then, I realized it didn’t really surprise me at all.
Having suffered months and months of treatment for his brain cancer, Asa’s life was almost lost due to the arrogance of the resident who was in charge of his care.
Read Franny’s story and see what you think. Then see if you agree with the steps she took afterward or whether you might have done something else instead.
A Doctor’s God Complex, a Life Nearly Lost
January 13th, 2009 by Trisha Torrey
Betsy McCaughey, director of RID (Reduce Hospital Deaths) reminds us in her latest Wall Street Journal article that those hospital germs, the ones that cause death and debilitation, are everywhere.
In her most recent article, she points to doctors’ and nurses’ scrubs, coats, ties — their clothing. MRSA, C.Diff. and other infectious pathogens cling to the fabric and get passed from patient to patient.
So — imagine that for a moment — the doctor brushes you with his white coat, that very item that represents his/her MD-dom — and passes an infection on to you which will make you very, very sick, or even kill you.
From Dr. McCaughey’s article:
The problem is that some medical personnel wear the same unlaundered uniforms to work day after day. They start their shift already carrying germs such as C.diff, drug-resistant enterococcus or staphylococcus. Doctors’ lab coats are probably the dirtiest. At the University of Maryland, 65% of medical personnel confess they change their lab coat less than once a week, though they know it’s contaminated. Fifteen percent admit they change it less than once a month. Superbugs such as staph can live on these polyester coats for up to 56 days.
Do unclean uniforms endanger patients? Absolutely. Health-care workers habitually touch their own uniforms. Studies confirm that the more bacteria found on surfaces touched often by doctors and nurses, the higher the risk that these bacteria will be carried to the patient and cause infection.
According to Dr. McCaughey, hospitals used to provide laundered uniforms and scrubs to their personnel, but that practice has gone by the wayside.
So, it seems like it would be a good practice to bring back. Especially since Medicare is no longer paying for care for patients who acquire infections in the hospital, it seems that laundering that clothing would be far less expensive than having to eat the cost of caring for so many infected patients.
Today’s second warning comes from Bottom Line Health, one of my favorite publications. I like Bottom Line because it doesn’t accept advertising, and it always brings in multiple points of view, e.g. the best of Eastern and Western medicine and ideas.
This notation comes from Jean-Yves Maillard, PhD from Cardiff University in Wales, UK who tells us that those disinfectant wipes we use on surfaces to kill bacteria (think clorox wipes, or those wipes they put near the shopping carts at supermarkets) may actually just spread those germs around. We may not be killing those buggers at all! Dr. Maillard suggests instead that we use one wipe per surface — or one swipe per wipe.
When it comes to these killer germs, we patients just can’t be too careful, can we?
December 29th, 2008 by Trisha Torrey
If you’ve read this blog for awhile, then you know 2008 was the year of SPTCL misdiagnoses.
SPTCL, subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma, was the rare and deadly lymphoma that kick-started my work as Every Patient’s Advocate. I was told I had it. In fact, I was told by two labs and an oncologist that I had it, and had only a few months to live.
But I didn’t. And I’ve written extensively about the fact that I didn’t have SPTCL and what I did to figure that out.
Earlier this year, in May and then July, I was contacted by two others who were dealing with the same diagnosis of SPTCL. Heather contacted me, then Daniel’s mother contacted me (Daniel is a teenager). They had found my work on the web and asked if I could help them get the information they needed.
So I did. And we learned that both Heather and Daniel had been misdiagnosed, just like I had.
Fast forward to today — the end of the year, and holiday time. I checked in with both Heather and Daniel to make sure they are still doing well. And yes, they most certainly are!!
I still choke up. It’s still a bit overwhelming. That’s three human beings, all of whom shared a misdiagnosis, none of whom underwent chemo, all of whom are healthy today.
Which is precisely why I do this work.
Here’s to even more great discoveries and saved lives in 2009.
