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Thursday, March 19, 2009

A couple new diseases

Spending so much time with patients we tend to observe new diseases doctors and scientists never picked up on. See if you recognize some of these that were sent to me from a fellow RT in Kentucky:

1. Chronic bed syndrome: Here you have your typical chronically sick patients who are unable to get out of the bed. They usually present with some grumpiness and fear not bossing you around without saying thank you. They expect you to cater to their every need; to actually know what they need before they ask. They tend to fit into any or all of the following adjectives: grumpy, demanding, purposeful apathy, melancholy, bossy, condescension.

2. Whoa is me syndrome: Some diseases might be MS, ALS, MSA, trauma, rehabilitation, chronically ill, or any such disease where the patient slowly develops atrophy of muscles and possible paralysis. She needs constant assistance moving and perhaps even drinking. They constantly yearn empathy and can at times fall into the Chronic bed syndrome. Ultimately, they want you to feel sorry for them. Something you might hear from this patient is, "Oh, why did this happen to me."

2 comments:

thomasanderson said...

I think you're thinking of "Woe Is Me Syndrome." "Whoa Is Me Syndrome" is a disease where the patient progressively transforms into Keanu Reeves.

Anonymous said...

Can we throw sick children into both of those categories, too? The girls are 10 and 7 now, but oh--how they revert to helplessness during any illness.