Worst thing you've seen while shadowing?

[circulus vitios]

Mammography + pap smear on a 300 pound woman. The smell alone almost made me sick and I was standing 5 feet away in the corner of the room. I'm still not sure why I agreed to see that.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Geebeejay]

Mammography + pap smear on a 300 pound woman. The smell alone almost made me sick and I was standing 5 feet away in the corner of the room. I'm still not sure why I agreed to see that.

Hahaha...this isn't shadowing, but I helped hold back the "pannis" of a 400+ pound women while the PA I+Ded an inguinal cellulitis. I had a blast keeping my face right next to her crotch which smelled absolutely horrific, and the cellulitis drained like 30ccs of Pus, it was absolutely disgusting, and this was probably only like 2 or 3 months into my job.

The PA poked her head out of the room, saw me coming by, and asked if I wanted me to "help her with something". An eager premed, I obviously said "yeah, sure, of course", and she pretty much laughed in my face and told me to gown up first before I realized what she was doing. Never trusted her again

 

[Turpulus]

I've got you all beat. Saw a gun shot wound to the penis.on my first day in trauma.

 

[phikapdoctor]

12 cervical exams in 2 hours..


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling

 

[circulus vitios]

I've got you all beat. Saw a gun shot wound to the penis.on my first day in trauma.

I don't know, that's actually kind of cool in a surreal and messed up way.

 

[DAPI]

I've got you all beat. Saw a gun shot wound to the penis.on my first day in trauma.

That wife must have been pretty PO'ed







Edit: After posting this, I realized it could be interpreted in a number of ways... lets just say I was thinking the wife shot him.

 

[Geebeejay]

I've got you all beat. Saw a gun shot wound to the penis.on my first day in trauma.

I saw a degloved penis a few months ago. Was gnarley. Poor kid got dragged by a train.

 

[Shinobiz11]

I saw a degloved penis a few months ago. Was gnarley. Poor kid got dragged by a train.

Going on 4chan doesn't count.

 

[Geebeejay]

Going on 4chan doesn't count.

Haha it really was as bad as the stuff you'd find there

 

[femoralgirl]

It wasn't during a shadowing experience, but I used to perform autopsies and once saw a man who had been driving drunk, rolled his vehicle, and was decapitated. You could smell the alcohol from his head bag.

 

[WTEngel]

Anaerobic labial abscess FTW. It was at least the size of a D cell battery. Patient had to walk in with crutches as it was so large and inflamed.

The doc let me numb it and make the incision. I am pretty sure this was a self serving decision on their part.

 

[theTiger128]

watching a 81 yo patient being rushed in by the ambulance, coded (cardiac arrest), resuscitated about 6 times, and then Die. I was also allowed to sit in the waiting room as the Doctor and nurses announced the news to their family.

It was Heart-breaking to say the least

 

[Shinobiz11]

Anaerobic labial abscess FTW. It was at least the size of a D cell battery. Patient had to walk in with crutches as it was so large and inflamed.

The doc let me numb it and make the incision. I am pretty sure this was a self serving decision on their part.

I call BS....

 

[goodkarma]

While volunteering in the OR, the surgeon performing laproscopic surgery kept having the nurses call people on his cell phone. He got in a heated argument with a surgeon performing another surgery down the hall. The nurse holding the phone to his ear was pretty uncomfortable. I was a nervous wreck for the patient since he was chopping away and tossing intestines here and there inside the abdominal cavity in (what looked to me) like a pretty unorganized fashion.

 

[mcloaf]

Advanced Fournier's gangrene. 'Nuff said.

 

[drspacheman]

A ~300 lb guy was lying on his bed. He was so heavy that he needed a chain pulley thing above his bed to reposition himself.

All of a sudden, he needed to take a crap. He was screaming for a nurse - "Nurse! Help! I've got diarrhea! Bedpan!"

I come rushing in, like a fool. He tells me to get a bedpan right away. I rush into his bathroom, grab the bedpan, and run back to his bed. He's pulling up on his chain pulley thingy, trying to get on his side so I can put the bedpan underneath him, but he can't get himself twisted all the way. So I push on his right buttock, like a fool, to try and turn his hip so I can wedge this bedpan underneath him.

And then it happened.

He exploded.

I was too late.

There was S*** everywhere.

 

[Crunk Norris]

Flare gun shot in the mouth was easily the craziest thing I have ever seen.

 

[BA11]

Rectal prolapse

 

[circulus vitios]

A ~300 lb guy was lying on his bed. He was so heavy that he needed a chain pulley thing above his bed to reposition himself.

All of a sudden, he needed to take a crap. He was screaming for a nurse - "Nurse! Help! I've got diarrhea! Bedpan!"

I come rushing in, like a fool. He tells me to get a bedpan right away. I rush into his bathroom, grab the bedpan, and run back to his bed. He's pulling up on his chain pulley thingy, trying to get on his side so I can put the bedpan underneath him, but he can't get himself twisted all the way. So I push on his right buttock, like a fool, to try and turn his hip so I can wedge this bedpan underneath him.

And then it happened.

He exploded.

I was too late.

There was S*** everywhere.

Ugh. How do people let themselves go like that. I really need to buy one of these and donate it to a hospital.

 

[MedPR]

Mohs surgery on an upper eyelid while the patient was awake and looking all around the room. Strange to see an eyeball move while the eyelid is being reconstructed.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[drspacheman]

Ugh. How do people let themselves go like that. I really need to buy one of these and donate it to a hospital.

Lol! That's hilarious

 

[Owlie]

I saw a degloved penis a few months ago. Was gnarley. Poor kid got dragged by a train.

My friend, who died a few years later cause a semi truck hit him while he was riding his motorcycle (probably 75mph-ish), was riding a bicycle and the chain tore his scrotal sack open.

 

[Procyon]

A very messy and painful geriatric colonoscopy.

 

[leandrito]

Hello I am a NURSE STUDENT future MD.. in clinical few weeks ago i saw a quadriplegic patient with 3 unstageable ulcers... you can see the sacrum bone, adipose tissue.. they were around 8 cm in length... etc.. i went with the nurse to see the chart.. and the pics of the patient when he was admitted .. were unbelievable... the pics were a little too muchhhhh...

 

[Owlie]

Hello I am a NURSE STUDENT future MD.. in clinical few weeks ago i saw a quadriplegic patient with 3 unstageable ulcers... you can see the sacrum bone, adipose tissue.. they were around 8 cm in length... etc.. i went with the nurse to see the chart.. and the pics of the patient when he was admitted .. were unbelievable... the pics were a little too muchhhhh...

Decubitous? Who was responsible for his care?

Not the name, but their level of training: family, nurse, etc.

 

[Geebeejay]

Decubitous? Who was responsible for his care?

Not the name, but their level of training: family, nurse, etc.

There's only so much you can do to prevent these....even though there ARE some nursing homes/rehabs that are known for terrible decub care, and terrible care in general.

worst one I saw tracked 32 cm I think it was. Also, her ostomy bag burst before her stay (why she checked in), and she ended up with intestinal contents all in her bed sores. Cleaning her was an absolute nightmare.

 

[Owlie]

There's only so much you can do to prevent these....even though there ARE some nursing homes/rehabs that are known for terrible decub care, and terrible care in general.

worst one I saw tracked 32 cm I think it was. Also, her ostomy bag burst before her stay (why she checked in), and she ended up with intestinal contents all in her bed sores. Cleaning her was an absolute nightmare.

Yeah, I know this is really hard, especially with quadriplegia. I knew someone personally who was ~600 lbs who had ulcers you could fit your arm into, and were staph. a. infected. Crazy stuff.

 

[Skull Pell]

While at work in a hosp - inserting rectal tubes (at first). Its a normal thing now for me; I got "numb" to grossness.

 

[leandrito]

Well the patient and his partner were in their house and they came to the hospital because the stages of the ulcers... thats why he was in the hospital because of the seriousness of the situation... the nurse and i took care of him that day.. thanks god he didnt smell ... they were very clean ulcers.. days after he was discharged.... but so sad

 

[Batman MD]

I saw a sixth month old go into cardiac arrest and pass away right in front of me. The mom was right next to me. One of the most devastating moments of my life, but it solidified my decision to go into pediatric trauma surgery.

 

[femoralgirl]

I saw a sixth month old go into cardiac arrest and pass away right in front of me. The mom was right next to me. One of the most devastating moments of my life, but it solidified my decision to go into pediatric trauma surgery.

Infant deaths are always the hardest to cope with, in my opinion.

 

[VitaminVater]

Maybe not as bad as others, but I just started shadowing this semester and it's an internal medicine dept at a clinic so not too crazy stuff there.

On my 3rd day I was sitting in on a 78 year old patient being asked about her hysterectomy when her 50 something old daughter, who was rather obese I should say, suddenly decides to blurt out she had one too and shows us her scar, pulling down the front of her sweatpants low enough to show her genitalia. Took me completely by surprise that she'd just casually flash us like that, but at least her mother later said she didn't feel too comfortable with me sitting in on her pap smear, which I imagine would've been a lot worse.

 

[987439759]

Panniculectomy on a 400+ pound woman. Took an hour just to set up. Drilled bolts through her belly and hoisted it up and cut it off. Crazy surgery.

 

[WTEngel]

I call BS....

Call BS if you like. I am not a traditional pre-med. I rotated with medical director in the ER at the facility where I am faculty for the EHS program. I have done plenty of procedures...

 

[CuttingCorneas]

Advanced Fournier's gangrene. 'Nuff said.

Gangrene is the worst. The sight of it isn't bad. But that smell...

 

[toutou]

I wasn't shadowing, I work in the prison and probably the worst thing I saw so far was when an inmate hemorrhaged from his penis when he nicked his dorsal vein when attempting to put in a cock rock. It was like a crime scene.

 

[Shinobiz11]

Call BS if you like. I am not a traditional pre-med. I rotated with medical director in the ER at the facility where I am faculty for the EHS program. I have done plenty of procedures...

Okay! An explanation was what I wanted; your statement makes a lot more sense now.
Honestly, you sounded like some sort of tool making up stories about how he did procedures during shadowing (its been heard before), thanks for the info.

 

[Spinach Dip]

*reads thread*

*faints*

 

[circulus vitios]

Okay! An explanation was what I wanted; your statement makes a lot more sense now.
Honestly, you sounded like some sort of tool making up stories about how he did procedures during shadowing (its been heard before), thanks for the info.

I had a nurse ask me to give him a flu shot. I thought he was joking but he was completely serious and asked me like 3 times with the needle in his hand. I was about to say f it and just roll with it until the other nurses yelled at him "He can't do that! He's a pre-medical student, not a medical student." SO CLOSE!

 

[WTEngel]

Okay! An explanation was what I wanted; your statement makes a lot more sense now.
Honestly, you sounded like some sort of tool making up stories about how he did procedures during shadowing (its been heard before), thanks for the info.

No worries. I was probably a little touchy because I don't want to be lumped in with that crowd. In retrospect I could see why the comment sounded a bit off.

 

[Owlie]

No worries. I was probably a little touchy because I don't want to be lumped in with that crowd. In retrospect I could see why the comment sounded a bit off.

As long as you explain, people will usually give you the benefit of the doubt. I doubt many people would believe I've helped with a pelvic exam, until I tell them that it was on my wife, and the ob/gyn is a friend, and I didn't do anything actually dangerous/important.

 

[WTEngel]

As long as you explain, people will usually give you the benefit of the doubt. I doubt many people would believe I've helped with a pelvic exam, until I tell them that it was on my wife, and the ob/gyn is a friend, and I didn't do anything actually dangerous/important.

I am 100% positive the physician would not be the one stopping me from assisting with a pelvic on my wife! ; )

There is not way my wife would go for that! Awesome that you got that experience though...I just had to laugh a little, thinking of how my wife would react if we were in that situation.

 

[Shinobiz11]

No worries. I was probably a little touchy because I don't want to be lumped in with that crowd. In retrospect I could see why the comment sounded a bit off.

Haha it was mostly because you provided the story in a thread about shadowing.

 

[leandrito]

Well i have seen kids dying.. when i was volunteering at a children hospital in the PICU... i was there for over a year and few months.. and this nice 8 years old boy.. was so happy he was there because that was his second surgery .. he had leukemia.. and didnt do well on his surgery spent 7 months in the hospital he was very white and thin.. ended up super orange and like an obese patient... it was very hard to see him dying.. the whole floor was crying.. i did cry and my boss told me in a very teaching and nice way.. "suck it up " and keep going... this is a learning experience and i am glad that you at some point played xbox with him and make him feel like any other kid... its hard but you get used to specially if you work in intensive units..

 

[Owlie]

I am 100% positive the physician would not be the one stopping me from assisting with a pelvic on my wife! ; )

There is not way my wife would go for that! Awesome that you got that experience though...I just had to laugh a little, thinking of how my wife would react if we were in that situation.

Some people can handle different things. My wife doesn't care because she understands the process and is interested in it too. He also let me look at the mild dysplasia he biopsied under a microscope.

 

[OKmojo]

Staph on a woman's labia - doesn't sound that bad but somehow the inflammation made it nearly irrecognizable. All red, swollen to 3x its normal size and an inflammed nodule looking thing that even made the Dr. scratch his head.

Better story of one of my friends... had to assist a nurse clean a woman's folds (she was over 350lb) that were full of yeast and maggots. I hope to never top that.

 

[Owlie]

Staph on a woman's labia - doesn't sound that bad but somehow the inflammation made it nearly irrecognizable. All red, swollen to 3x its normal size and an inflammed nodule looking thing that even made the Dr. scratch his head.

Better story of one of my friends... had to assist a nurse clean a woman's folds (she was over 350lb) that were full of yeast and maggots. I hope to never top that.

You're kidding! Maggots? How in the...

 

[Skull Pell]

I wasn't shadowing, I work in the prison and probably the worst thing I saw so far was when an inmate hemorrhaged from his penis when he nicked his dorsal vein when attempting to put in a cock rock. It was like a crime scene.

Now THAT'S downright nasty. In vivid detail too

 

[StudyShy]

Maggots in the vagina.

 

[Bangersandmash]

I wasn't shadowing, I work in the prison and probably the worst thing I saw so far was when an inmate hemorrhaged from his penis when he nicked his dorsal vein when attempting to put in a cock rock. It was like a crime scene.

Man, when a friend of mine explained cock rocks to me I couldn't really believe him. Glad to know it's real.