Blog 46 More Stories From Naval Ultrasound

(Lena and I on a date to her office party)

(Learning, again, not to say anything until the doctor had spoken to the patient) 

           I had a patient desperately trying to have a baby. Her husband came into the room with her. After doing a quick brush over her pelvis, I felt comfortable to talk to the couple.I showed her the baby moving, let her hear the heartbeat, showed the baby’s anatomy,(including the sex), and that she was still in her first trimester! The couple was SOOOO happy since they had been trying for so long. 

      I developed the film and showed the doctor. I said how happy I was for them to finally be pregnant! The doctor replied, “That is wonderful. It is just too bad that she is going to lose the pregnancy!” My mouth hit the floor with an astounding, “WHAT?” The doctor showed me that there was fluid between the uterine wall and her placenta. This meant that the placenta (also known as the afterbirth) was detaching from her uterus wall and would abort. I was distressed and tears came to my eyes knowing that I had just left their room giving them hope and joy, knowing now that the doctor was going to tell them that the baby would be lost!

           I did not want to go back into their room, but it was my duty. The doctor, of course, gave them the bad news and they began crying and hugging. I immediately joined in the hug as the doctor left the room. I said I was sorry for getting their hopes up and then prayed with them that God would forgive me and I prayed that He somehow gives them the child they always wanted. Even though I learned to recognize this problem, I was much more careful in when I said or showed things to the family.

(Happy Things Come From Possibly Bad Things)

          I did an emergency study on a woman who went to the ER for vaginal bleeding and a possible miscarriage. She was crying hysterically because this was her first child. I began the study and looked carefully for anomalies. I did not want to let her know that I found twins. But, everything looked well so I had to do a study on each baby. We always labeled them as baby A and baby B. She took a glance at the screen and noticed what I had written. Grabbing my arm, she asked, “Do I have twins?” So I told her that it seemed that way. She began crying again!

           I told her that, in my opinion, things looked alright. But, the doctor had to look at her and he would tell her. After developing the films, and showing the doctor, he felt things were normal. I wanted to know why she was bleeding. He said that it was normal for  twins to take up so much room that when they moved around, they would push blood and fluid through the canal. He gave her the good news and while I prepared for her to go back to the ER, she gave me a huge hug and thanked me. About a year later, she came to the office pushing twin boys. She said she wanted to show me the miracles that I found. They were very cute and healthy. And, although, I just did the study and no miracles, I sure felt good!

(I Did Not Learn This in CPR Class!!!)

          The Ultrasound Department had not yet been deemed useful for real emergencies back in the eighties. But, from time to time, we would have one. We had a patient from the hospital that had an unclear diagnosis. She was very sick when she arrived at our department. She kept passing out in our waiting area and her vital signs were dropping. We immediately cleared a room for her and the doctor said that he would do the study himself. We got her ready and there were two of us corpsmen, the doctor, and an intern in the room.

          My job was to do her vitals every five minutes, the intern was at the foot of the bed, the second corpsman was on the right side to quickly change the films for the doctor and to be ready to begin chest compressions, if needed. Here we go!!!!! The doctor began the study and the woman was alert. Suddenly she stopped talking and her eyes turned glassy. I called out her name. I said, “Doctor, she is not responding!”. He began taking pictures faster. I called her name again, and began checking her pulse. “Doctor, I am not getting a pulse!” The doctor took pictures even faster!

          Again, I called her name while still checking her pulse, and this time placing my other hand on her abdomen and lowering my ear to her mouth. “Doctor, she has no pulse and she is not breathing!!” As both of us  corpsmen began to start CPR, as we were taught, the intern quickly grabbed her feet and lifted them high in the air. The doctor threw down the probe, stood up and grabbed both her shoulders! He shook her very hard and yelled, “LADY! LADY!”, and the woman came awake. The other corpsman and I just stared at each other and the doctor sat back down and finished taking pictures.! When he was finished he said, “Make sure the films come out, then get her back to her floor ASAP!” We did as he said, and all was well, except the other corpsman and me!!!! 

• 21st Aug 2018
• mylife
• 2 Comments
• Uncategorized