Gall Bladder Symptoms are Not Easily Diagnosed

I was 35 when I began to experience some mild recurring upper abdominal pain. I had previously been diagnosed with acid reflux disease and was taking Nexium for symptom relief. This seemed to have reduced the pains somewhat but did not completely relieve them. The pains were getting sharper and more frequent. At my next doctor's visit I described the pains as a sharp stabbing feeling below my mid-sternum.

The doctor prescribed me Prilosec and warned me again about greasy fried foods. I had cut down on such foods but agreed to eliminate them from my diet. The new medicine and diet seemed to be working. I was having fewer symptoms over the next few weeks. I kept a bottle of cherry Rolaids in my pocket at all times. I was at work when my first serious attack hit me. I was a night supervisor at my local newspaper. We were running the early morning paper off the presses when I felt the pain in the center of my chest. I nearly fell over. I went into the locker room and knelt down on the floor. It doubled me over the pain was so intense. I really thought I was having a heart attack. It felt like something was on fire in my chest. I could barely breathe. I clocked out early and went home.

The rest of the night was a struggle. I thought if I could just get something to come up the pain would go away. This was how I best described the pain. It feels like food poisoning. On top of the stabbing burning pain you feel physically ill. When the pain would not subside, I decided to go to the emergency room. In the waiting room the pain seemed to simply go away. I was seen by the night physician who could find nothing physically wrong with me. I didn't even feel any discomfort when the area of my abdomen was pressed. It was like the pain was never there. I made another appointment with my family physician.

By this time I the sharp painful attacks were hitting me almost daily. And the tests were indicating nothing wrong with me physically. I had gotten frustrated with going to the doctor just to have them scratch their heads. No medication was working to relieve the now agonizing pain. This was affecting my work and I couldn't sleep through the night. In desperation I fastened a belt around my upper torso with a shirt tied up in a knot to keep constant pressure on my mid-sternum region. This was the only relief I could get. I was scheduled for another appointment with a gastroenterologist. A day before my appointment I began to get chills and became pale as a sheet. I collapsed and woke up in the hospital.

Only after my gallbladder had ruptured did it release poisonous bile into my system that the tests were able to record. A simple ultrasound weeks before would have shown that my gallbladder was full of stones. My physician explained there are so many different conditions that mimic the same symptoms that it's difficult to diagnose the gall bladder as the cause. I looked at him with some frustration and recommended he put an ultrasound at the top of his list of tests to perform when his next patient complains of stabbing upper abdominal pains.

Sources/Resources

Gall Bladder Symptoms

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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Health Care Providers Protect Your License!

When in doubt, always err on the side of life. That's what we do as health care providers. The unique aspect of being a health care provider whether you are a nurse, EMT or First Responder is that you never really leave the job. At any moment, no matter where you are, you could be called upon to save someone's life. But there is a myth that a gray area exists somewhere between delivering life saving care and violating health care policy. There is no gray area.

It's chilling to think that you could be held legally liable or even face criminal charges for doing your job as you were trained in an effort to save a patient's life. The reports of health care providers placed in this situation are frightening to the rest of us in the field. The best way to protect yourself and your license, as a health care provider, is to be aware of the laws governing your state and the policies of your place of employment.

DNR

Do Not Resuscitate orders have often been the focus of confusion in the health care field and is the classic gray area scenario. Again, there is no gray area here and the DNR aspect of patient care is there to clearly define your role as a provider in the event of the existence of a DNR order. If a DNR order exists you can not provide life saving measures to the patient. The patient, or those responsible for the patient, have expressed their wishes to not have life saving care should their heart stop or they stop breathing. DNR is a legally binding expression of the patient's and/or family's will.

The first thing you do as an EMS provider when you arrive on a scene is to ensure your scene is safe. Many elder care facilities may have policies in place regarding the care of their patients in cardiac arrest or have stopped breathing These policies may protect the employees of the facility but they do not protect you. The DNR order must be with the patient upon your arrival for you to be legally relieved of your responsibility to provide care. If the nurse informs you of a facility policy to deny care but cannot provide a DNR, your scene just became extremely dangerous. You must obtain documentation from the nurse that he/she refused to allow you to treat the patient. Annotate this in your own report and make your on duty medical control physician aware of the situation. Remember, their facility policy does not protect you as an arriving EMS provider.

Working For an Elder Care Facility or Home Health Agency

Nurses should be aware of a facility's policy on patient care before they accept employment. As mentioned earlier, different facilities have different policies regarding patient care but all these policies are written to protect the facility not the nurse. Being aware of your legal responsibility to your patient as outlined by your state is the best protection from liability. When a facility's policy deviate from those you are obligated by the state to follow you should not work there.

Good Samaritan Laws

Good Samaritan Laws are generally accepted provisions by the state that protects you as a health care provider in the event you happen upon a patient in need of life saving care. DNR and facility policy do not apply if the situation is spontaneous and occurs outside of a care facility. You are expected to perform life saving care as would be reasonably expected of any health care provider possessing the same skills and training. In the unlikely event this patient has a DNR with them in clear view of you at the scene of the incident then the DNR would apply.

The purpose of this discussion is to help remind us that there is no gray area. Those licensed and employed in the health care field must be aware of their state's laws regarding patient care as much as they are expected to remain current with their medical training. The same advice for protecting yourself from a potentially dangerous scene will protect you from the medical/legal dangers as well. Being prepared is the best protection

Sources/Resources

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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Edenjaid worked in EMS for 6 years and studied in Health Sciences at University of West Alabama