When I need a cavity filled and get that lidocaine shot in the mouth, I break out in a sweat and get faint, nauseated and pale. It's purely in my head, not a medication reaction, ever since anatomy class in medical school. It's…
Early in human history, people saw that losing blood from battle or childbirth was life-threatening. In the 1600s doctors tried transfusing blood from donors. Sometimes it worked, but often patients had fatal reactions. Other…
I had funny feelings in my chest. Because both my brothers had cardiac issues in their 50s, and I was about to go on a hiking vacation, I was a little concerned. So while at work, I asked one of the nurses to check my EKG. Her…
My son's transcript showed he had failed Business Law, a bad start for a kid considering applying to law school for...business law. After emailing his professor to ask the particulars, he stumbled through the day in a haze of…
Hard to believe, Amy loves the Army. She's in boot camp, enjoying lots of exercise, full days, new jargon to learn, and she even likes the lectures on Army protocol. It's stressful to be sure; it's supposed to be tough. Some…
We read about these things in our books, but when they happen for the first time it's a surprise. The parents rushed their 8 year-old girl into the Emergency Department. She had been riding her bike, turned the handlebars too…
This week's guest columnist is Dr. Danielle Duhon, a family practice resident at the University Hospital and Clinics here in Lafayette. First the child complains of chest pain. She might even say it in scarier terms: "My heart…
I have had several personal fainting episodes in my life, some quite silly. For example, there was the time in high school biology class: I was to get a drop of blood from my fingertip to look at blood cells under the…
The following is not an unusual situation: The paramedics pull up on the scene of an injury. They assess the patient, and let’s say the patient is a seven year-old girl with a broken leg. Mom: “Can you take her to Regional…
