Reality Check 2 Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 It is Friday. It is a full moon. Pretty sure a bunch of my patients parked their spaceship in the parking lot last night, had a rave, invited friends and instigated each other. Mostly tongue in cheek - but - does the full moon affect your practice, patients, day at work? Years ago in the ER - I would not pick the full moon to work nights. Maybe superstitious but people seemed a bit whackier that day/night and stuff seemed to not go right. So, chime in. Or Howl - whatever it is that affects you............................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCPAC Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 LOL YES! when I was a hospitalist only the looniest would come out from their cave to be admitted. Now that I'm an icu pa it seems like only the sickest ones are admitted and everything hits the fan at once Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdenning Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 The crazy bus actually makes a daily stop at our office, but perhaps things get a little more wacky around full moon time. I work in neurology so there's a whole bunch of psych overlap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 Pretty sure my office and your office are on the same bus route...... Today's Winners - 62 yr old suboptimal bipolar treatment who walks 21 miles IN ONE DAY for fitness and health. Can't figure out why he passed out 3 times in the past month after doing this. He walks this distance 3-4 times a week, alone. He has passed out in another state and had to be taken to the ER. He is body obsessed and is clueless to his obsessive behavior. Also walking on a very young total hip that he will destroy before its time. Anxiety ridden 21 yr old who fired her psychologist and then came to our office to establish so I would finally rx the meds she wants....................... hmmmm, no. How about a psychiatrist? 17 yr old male golf prodigy who played 2 tournaments this week with temp 101.4 and can't figure out why he doesn't feel good today.......................... 21 yr female who "coughs up tonsil stones for years". Her tonsils have not one iota of debris or engorgement. Not sure what she is coughing up.............. So, everyone enjoy the weekend. Feel a bit more sane. Keep looking for antenna in the hairline and keep on plugging away - stamp out illness and disability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I work EM, with the largest forensic cocoa puff eater facility in the province next door to us...need I say more? SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 I work EM, with the largest forensic cocoa puff eater facility in the province next door to us...need I say more? SK Have you ever gone to competency court? Do they have that in Canada? I had to go in Texas from the County Hospital after my patient was on a 3 day psych hold. The patient was found naked, standing on a restaurant table, eating paper napkins. I came out feeling unbelievably sane and normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medic25 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 It's actually been studied: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25407032 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17256692 At least according to the literature, there's no effect. Not sure if I'd agree after many years of ED night shifts.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Have you ever gone to competency court? Do they have that in Canada? I had to go in Texas from the County Hospital after my patient was on a 3 day psych hold. The patient was found naked, standing on a restaurant table, eating paper napkins. I came out feeling unbelievably sane and normal. They have something like that here - a board of head crushers from the holding unit if someone is on an involuntary hold. Never had to go per se...when I was in school, we did do a discussion regarding just such a person though that really was going to wind up back in if we (my psych team) didn't issue a form. I have had to go before a judge to get a patient of mine formed though - only an MD can issue an involuntary psych hold and a copper can bring someone in for involuntary assessment if in their judgment the person is a nutter - many cops around where I used to work would do everything possible not to exercise their rights under the Mental Health Act, hence the reason I was before a judge to have a warrant issued as a citizen. This was a result of me having it out with the coppers who apparently had conveniently not read the part of the Act that empowers them to use their highly trained and paid minds to do their job and keep out of court on a day off. The person in question actually came back to me a couple months later and thanked me for my actions. SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 The spaceship was still in the yard this morning. The full moon has carried over to today........................ Nothing is normal or easy or fitting into known categories and folks have some interesting ideas about why they feel the way they do. Hope it wears down as the week progresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Ever notice that there isn't a DSM-V code for "Normal, well adjusted human/humanoid"? The Dx I often use at this time of the lunar cycle is "F.I.T.H." - Frigged In The Head...since there are some folks with way too many Axis I/II issues going on simultaneously. My preceptor in head shrinking used to just shake his head when I came up with that on rounds... SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 From an ER perspective, I seem to recall that the only thing worse than a full moon ... is full moon on a payday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lola Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 This is just so weird.... I love it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 I have a patient with a weird undifferentiated neurologic condition. She woke up with a foreign accent. Then tripped when she got out of bed and started stuttering and developed a head tremor. Very weird. There is an ICD-10 code for foreign accent syndrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 Interesting...I guess ze ozzer qvestion vould be "iz zere a DSM-V code az vell?" SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop to pa Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 They have something like that here - a board of head crushers from the holding unit if someone is on an involuntary hold. Never had to go per se...when I was in school, we did do a discussion regarding just such a person though that really was going to wind up back in if we (my psych team) didn't issue a form. I have had to go before a judge to get a patient of mine formed though - only an MD can issue an involuntary psych hold and a copper can bring someone in for involuntary assessment if in their judgment the person is a nutter - many cops around where I used to work would do everything possible not to exercise their rights under the Mental Health Act, hence the reason I was before a judge to have a warrant issued as a citizen. This was a result of me having it out with the coppers who apparently had conveniently not read the part of the Act that empowers them to use their highly trained and paid minds to do their job and keep out of court on a day off. The person in question actually came back to me a couple months later and thanked me for my actions. SK Because I had a medical background, I used to get all the psych calls back when I wore a badge. My sergeant trusted my judgement on those. Some shifts I'd buy two or three transports to the hospital. A lot of police don't have experience, desire, or the ability to recognize acute problems versus chronic nuttery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 ---today is the full moon again--- Everyone's labs are abnormal. Patients are forgetting to tell me about that ER visit with admission and the 4 meds not on their list. My MA is about to be fired - THANKFULLY - but we can't get decent candidates!!! The computer is wonky and I need a nap................................. Not enough Calgon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Our ER was full up tonight...and with alot of folks that had no business being there...along with a few Cocoa Puff eaters to add insult to injury. They were still coming in by the horde when I left. So I will say yes. SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogLovingPA Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 YUP. In my first 3 hours of urgent care yesterday - we started the day with severe allergic rxn, I cut off a ring, I sent one to the ER, sutured 2 lacs, took off a toenail, had an urgent ophtho referral. I ended the day with a pt who checks in one minute to close with a cough - I figure this will be easy.... except he only "coughs" when he feels this weird flutter in his chest.... oy vey.... Then my partner goes in to see a relatively healthy 28 yo male c/o "anxiety". Turns out he also has epigastric pain and is a heavy drinker - LFT's through the roof. Was going to start an outpatient work up but decided to send him to the ER as the business day is starting to end... Normal u/s, CT with alcoholic hepatic steatosis.... then the pt CODES coming out of the CT scanner. Obviously we weren't in the ER but reading the ER note it sounded like a giant disaster (because who expects a "healthy" 28 yo to code on you?)..... multiple shocks, meds, etc... oh and they accidentally hit his femoral artery trying to get a central line..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted July 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 20, 2016 I think the "full moon" theory is simply trying to find patterns in the chaos. I'd rather just embrace the chaos no matter what day it is. Because I guarantee you, in my time doing ER, the phase of the moon means absolutely squat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetsiren Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Reality Check 2: GLAD TO HEAR about your horrible MA finally getting the boot! It's been a while since you posted that first complaint about her incompetence on here! And ...lol.... I think I missed something in the "cocoa puff" comment.... can't quite tell if it's just the ad "cuckoo for cocoa puffs," or if "cocoa puffs" are a new slang term for a drug....? LMAO!! When I worked in surgery I had to enter the ER to get into the hospital - the staff were always preparing for full moon, as was the OR when I got there. Plus, I NEVER sleep well on a full moon or the night after. Happens like clockwork. Last night I was up until 4:30am just because I couldn't fall asleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Cocoa Puff eaters are in fact Cuckoos...it's a tad more polite than calling them wack jobs, nutters, psychos, etc...not much, but just enough to keep the supervisors from writing me up. Obviously we weren't in the ER but reading the ER note it sounded like a giant disaster (because who expects a "healthy" 28 yo to code on you?)..... multiple shocks, meds, etc... oh and they accidentally hit his femoral artery trying to get a central line..... On the bright side, they got themselves an art line...gotta be a glass half full guy sometimes :-) SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.