Happy New Year!!!

At the end of December, codeblog turned 9 years old.  It amazes me that I’ve been doing this for that long.  I was so excited when I was asked questions for the Reader’s Digest article “50 Things Your Nurse Won’t Tell You.”  My comments appeared in print, and in the online version here and here.

For that last link, the quote was this:

“If you ask me if your biopsy results have come back yet, I may say no even if they have, because the doctor is really the best person to tell you. He can answer all your questions.”

This blog took issue with that comment:

“And still another nurse admits that the nurse might falsely say that biopsy results are not back, “because the doctor is really the best person to tell you. He can answer all your questions.” The physician may be the best person to tell you about some things, but he–or she–can’t necessarily “answer all your questions”; nurses are more expert about a number of aspects of patient care. “

I stand by my comment.  If your biopsy results come back with a specific form of cancer that I know nothing about, I’m not going to march into your room and say, “Hey!  You have cancer!  Unfortunately I have no idea what they will do to treat it, if it even can be treated, or what your prognosis is.  And no, I also have no idea when your physician will be in to discuss these things with you.”

There have definitely been times in my life that I have just wanted to know.  But I think those times have been fairly straightforward.  I would have probably paid good money for someone, anyone, to call me with my betaHCG results when I was having symptoms of a miscarriage, but instead I had to wait for the doctor to call.  No one else would tell me.  But I had already done hours and hours of reading about what those numbers would mean and felt fairly prepared to interpret them on my own.  Every minute I had to wait was agony.

I think things would be different if I had no idea what to do with the results.  I would most likely be okay waiting a few extra hours for some results if I could get them from the doctor who could then answer my questions rather than have someone less knowledgeable report them.

Then again, maybe there’s something to be said for getting results and having a chance to do my own research so that I would have a chance to let the information sink in and be able to come up with appropriate questions.  I guess it’s a grey area.

Anyway, I was completely tickled to be in Reader’s Digest.  My grandmother read a LOT and I spent a lot of time with her when I was younger.  I also started reading a lot, and she had many books around.  When I went through all the books, I asked her what I could read next and she found a box of old Reader’s Digests for me to go through.

I (metaphorically) devoured them.  I remember one had a story about the Titanic and what happened hour-by-hour.  I read that probably 5 or 10 times.  Every issue had several interesting things to read.  She renewed her subscription and I was so excited when an issue would arrive.

I think she would be so proud that my name was in RD.  I wish she were here so I could show her.

Gina has been an Intensive Care nurse for 12 years. Her blog is about her experiences as a nurse and the experiences of others in the healthcare system – patients, nurses, doctors, paramedics. We all have stories!

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