The Magic Touch
This was weird.
An elderly woman with a previous history of atrial fibrillation came in complaining of palpitations and a rapid heart rate. Her EKG showed atrial flutter with a rate of 120. I talked with her for a few minutes before examining her. As soon as I placed my stethoscope on her chest, I heard her heart skip a beat. When I looked up at the monitor she had converted to a normal rhythm, and her heart rate decreased to 80 beats per minute.
She asked me to touch her arthritic hip, but I didn't want to push my luck.
An elderly woman with a previous history of atrial fibrillation came in complaining of palpitations and a rapid heart rate. Her EKG showed atrial flutter with a rate of 120. I talked with her for a few minutes before examining her. As soon as I placed my stethoscope on her chest, I heard her heart skip a beat. When I looked up at the monitor she had converted to a normal rhythm, and her heart rate decreased to 80 beats per minute.
She asked me to touch her arthritic hip, but I didn't want to push my luck.
posted by scalpel at 3:23 AM
10 Comments:
I think you were on a roll and should have gone ahead and touched her hip. Couldn't hurt, might help.
I'm guessing Roger Aaron Brown, as John Henry in the movie Tall Tale, one of my favorites. You never see photos of him.
So did you exhale a bunch of black gnats afterward?
Actually, I've had spells of paroxysmal A-fib for years; they'll last anywhere from a few seconds to (in one case) several hours (ended up in the ER for that one) and they spontaneously convert from all sorts of stimuli. Maybe you just didn't warm that stethoscope up enough.
I always suspected you had extra special talents. If I can hitch a ride to your hospital, will you fix my ankle?
MJ:-)
Click on the picture to see what movie it is, joints. It's a must-see.
Does nobody recognize Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey in The Green Mile? Or am I too much of a Stephen King junkie.
Love that movie. (Hey, I agree with Mother Jones--where do you work? I've got a lot of arthritis problems from old cheerleader injuries...)
Pediatricians do stuff like this with most sick visits. I don't think I've EVER taken a febrile, whining (sometimes shrieking) child to the pedi who didn't look well as soon as the doc walked into the room.
You should have touched the hip. What could it hurt?
I've never had that kind of luck with a stethoscope, but I did have to cardiovert someone recently in the back of my rig. It was no fun; the patient punched me in the head after we converted him out of a PSVT at 240 with an SBP of 70. He was 76 years old, and I gotta tell you, his fist in the side of my head hurt! But it was worth it :-)
The Green Mile is one of my favorite movies, and Michael Clarke Duncan was awesome as John Coffey. MHO, of course.
As for the hip, I agree too - you might have been 2 for 2.....
My very next patient was also in recurrent atrial fibrillation, and I joked with my nurse that I was going to do the same thing.
You should have seen the look on her face when I walked out of the room and said "He can go now." She gasped and looked up at the monitor like I really might have such powers. Alas, it was not to be.
I now know where to come for my daily entertainment. Thanks.
Post a Comment
<< Home