Nurses Nook

[Adminஐﻬ]

A new thread for all the wonderful nurses we have on board.
~Enjoy!

[fostermom]

 
Hi,
My name is Amy. I have been diagnosed with MCTD R/O scleroderma.
I have read numerous articles on MCTD but one of the best I've read recently is from MedicineNet.com. It is titled Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. It's simple to read and understand, short, but informative and it pretty much sums up MCTD in a couple of pages.
This said, any of you that have MCTD know that you can't really sum it up in a couple of pages.
One of the things I've learned most recently about MCTD that I guess I knew all along but have been in denial about is that even though there is an overlap of SLE, Scleroderma, and polymyositis, generally Scleroderma ends up coming up in first place.
I was okay with SLE...learning to live with it, but I will be honest, Scleroderma scares me...so all of you folks with Scleroderma knowlege and experience need to share with me. See, as a nurse, I tend to be a TERRIBLE patient. 
One thing I have learned over the last 4 years since I've been sick is TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!! I say that in bold letters because for the first 3 years, I didn't follow those directions. I am 41 and many days I feel 61. I am a slow learner, but I am learning. I've been so used to taking care of others that I forgot about me. No offense to any male readers, but this is for the ladies. Even if you are not a nurse, if you are FEMALE, you are probably used to taking care of everyone else but yourselves. Remember to remember you need pampering too. Even if you are not a nurse or other health care provider, read. Become educated. Learn basic medical vocabulary. Learn what blood pressures are normal (don't go over 140/90), what blood sugars are normal (stay below 115 fasting) learn the labwork and the results that are expected for these different disease processes. Ask questions/it's your right. Don't accept everything your health care providers say as gospel.If you are diagnosed with any disease process, learn everything you can about it.  And one thing I've learned so far from this site is don't be afraid to share with others. This thread is titled Nurses Nook, but when it comes to immune diseases we all have to be nurses.
Amy

[Adminஐﻬ]

Don't accept everything your health care providers say as gospel.

Amen Sista Amy!!!!

[mflepoma]

I agree take time to take care of your self. Ask questions make your doctor slow down and talk to you. Have your notes when go to your doctor visits. This site is great reference site. And do your homework have it with you to discuss it with the doctor he is not gonna like it that you have been on the internet but thats okay if your not happy with the way things are going with your condition and prognosis do some foot work your self and if your still not happy go for second opinion.

[SunniPearl2]

This is an awesome site I love this nice to meet you both....Love Gail ty for the info to..... mle

[Dr House]

A new thread for all the wonderful nurses we have on board.
~Enjoy!

well is the DR allowed in here????   hse -for those fibro patients of mine  lol

[Adminஐﻬ]

A new thread for all the wonderful nurses we have on board.
~Enjoy!

well is the DR allowed in here????   hse -for those fibro patients of mine  lol

the Dr is in the house I could use you, actually I just need sleep WELCOME BACK!

[greyskiesme]

A new thread for all the wonderful nurses we have on board.
~Enjoy!

well is the DR allowed in here????   hse -for those fibro patients of mine  lol

ha ha ha I love this dr house thing he's my favorite. I am not a nurse so I hope I'm not in trouble for being in here but I love medicine and used to be a pre med student but far from qualified to comment. I can only pride myself in diagnosing fake scenarios on er and explaining them to my husband lol. Love you guys for this post or room it helps so much thanks!!!

[Adminஐﻬ]

well is the DR allowed in here????   hse -for those fibro patients of mine  lol

ha ha ha I love this dr house thing he's my favorite. I am not a nurse so I hope I'm not in trouble for being in here but I love medicine and used to be a pre med student but far from qualified to comment. I can only pride myself in diagnosing fake scenarios on er and explaining them to my husband lol. Love you guys for this post or room it helps so much thanks!!!

Nah your'e not in trouble. You used to be a pre med student, that I would say qualifies you to post.
Nice to meet you!
Kathy
Nice to meet you.

[Adminஐﻬ]

I'm going online for my new online reading of all my medical results, tests, xrays, reports, etc

My question is from a Jan. 2008 blood test

MCHC 36.1 (32.0-36.0) g/dL H  being high .

I have no clue what MCHC ,eans other than it shows it is high.
Nurses? 
Your opnion please
Thank you very kindly in advance   
here is another, to me it show my Bilirubin is low  
Total Bilirubin 0.3 (<1.1)-  mg/dL   

[Adminஐﻬ]

I have never been or needed to be on Lipitor. But the "bag things" under my eyes arecalled fatty deposits from lipids over spill generally seen in the elderly.
I have to go be seen by an Endo______ specialist to see what is going on because the new Dr said something is not right.
So I'm having fun looking at my medical chart online and took a snap shot of my levels from waaay back in 2002.
My right artery was blocked then, as well as 9 months later.
I have symptoms right now of me being blocked more than just the right leg. So I'm going to a nice surgeon for that (maybe do a complete reroute this time as discussed last time)
If you know anything about Cholesteral levels nurse, Dr. friend, jump in and let's talk!

[Adminஐﻬ]

Here's my first report on my bone scan taken last May. I thought it was good, but according to this, I have something called OSTEOPENIA and I need to take calcium and vitamin D
Nurses, tell us more about this...

[Adminஐﻬ]

Look at pic.
States I have the one long S Word wrong with my back at L-5 . They also noticed the metal artery stent inside me (I also have a plastic teflon coated one in there now so no blood clots will stick)
Anxious to talk to nurses, this is very exciting to go through your own medical records. 

[Adminஐﻬ]

I typed my questions for the Nurses onto the picture.
Thank you to all who may answer

[Adminஐﻬ]

it's not off the charts, but why do Drs say this is normal when it's been flagged?

[Adminஐﻬ]

it says positive H for high and it's "flagged" yet it says negative

[AnnieHasFibro]

  this is a great idea to post our medical reports. Now teach us how you do that

[Debby]

it says positive H for high and it's "flagged" yet it says negative

this is strange as it does show positive yet negative for reference range <40

[Adminஐﻬ]

I just had seven vials of blood drawn.
She had a "mini IV line" she used .
I actually preferred it as I didn't feel the changing or pressure of the tubes being changed for each vial filled up.

I should of looked over to see how thin or thick my blood was. All I know is my blood is BLACK looking.

Just went to remove the cotton ball and it felt "wet". I'm still bleeding, guess I'll remove the cotton ball and put a bandaid on.
pic coming soon.... I swear I've never bled like this before
Not for the queasy lol
OK mind you I have NOT taken any blood thinners and I was not hurt or felt pain when this happen.

What HURTS is this damn tape stuck to my hairy arms!
Question to the Nurses, what was that "mini IV line" they used and is it common for a patient to bleed like this afterwards?
There was NO difference in "pain" when the needle went in, in fact I prefer this way to have it drawn because I can not stand the pushing feeling when they change vials to fill them up

[Holly]

I wouldn't think it would be normal for it to be bleeding like that after an hour. When I have blood drawn it stops in minutes. Usually I take off the cotton ball about 15 min or so afterward and the bleeding has stopped completely.

I have never had blood drawn from a line like that. I always have the vials done one by one and it is always in the bend of my elbow. It has never been done where yours was taken.

I love how your charts have been posted. I am going to ask my doctor when I see her again if I am able to get my results on line. I always get copies of all my blood work, xrays and scans but I would like to get them on line too.

[Sweet Jasmine]

you should not of had this much blood on a cotton ball for just giving blood maybe it did have something to do with the iv thing she used

[3sisters]

   I'm not a nurse, just a patient.

MCHC has to do with the size of young red blood cells... (I too have had this flagged, only when I'm anemic) sometimes with certain anemias these
 precious "newborn/young" 
blood cells are bigger than normal, but then they get slammed before they can fully mature. Hemolysis falls in this scheme.

The billirubin being low could be from anemia

--> What were your hemocrit and red blood cell (RBC) titers?

That ANA  test is positive, the word Negative means anything below 40 is considered negative.

I agree with everyone, this access to your records is AWESOME!
Just think, some late night, that we have insomnia, we can read your records and get really pist at the doctors~   
Huggles, Kimmy

[Adminஐﻬ]

  I'm not a nurse, just a patient.

That's OK if you are not a Nurse, your'e the only one that has any knowledge of what I'm trying to show the public to help them out with their tests.

Below is the first of many from yesterdday's blood draw that are coming in, so speak up if you can interupt the meanings of these highs and low.
Thank you very much in advance!
Kathy

[Adminஐﻬ]

#2 result I circled what is flagged high or low

[Adminஐﻬ]

Result #3

[Adminஐﻬ]

the following had nothing flagged on them  ;Free T4,TSH,ESR Lipids.
And here is a copy of the good old invisable Xray... Never showing a thing.
As I type this it's a tight "I need a heating pad on it now" feeling..
Read results...

[Holly]

I am not a nurse and I have no medical background at all but the CRP is high. It appears they did the highly sensitive test on you too. The CRP is a good indicator of inflammation (it picks up way more than the ESR rate). CRP is used to check on inflammation in Lupus, RA and other auto immune diseases. The highly sensitive CRP picks up more on the heart issues. I have read where doctors like it as a good indicator of a persons risk of heart disease or heart attack but insurance companies discourage it being ordered as a test. Hopefully your doctor will be calling you to explain the results.

My kidney values always concern me. My doctor always explains them away as being nothing. I will have to go pull my records out and check them. I used to get all worried after reading my results because I was worried I was having kidney issues but my doc always says I am fine. I guess he was right because I am doing ok. We get ourselves so worked up looking at our results and most of the time it is all for not. I wouldn't worry too much until after she explains your results to you.

[Crockett2007]

I am not a nurse either but I admire Kathy for putting her life out here for us to see and read. Not many of us have access like she does to her records I envy her I hope these blood levels give the physcians the knowledge to treat you. We need you here!   

[Adminஐﻬ]

I am not a nurse and I have no medical background at all but the CRP is high. It appears they did the highly sensitive test on you too. The CRP is a good indicator of inflammation (it picks up way more than the ESR rate). CRP is used to check on inflammation in Lupus, RA and other auto immune diseases. The highly sensitive CRP picks up more on the heart issues. I have read where doctors like it as a good indicator of a persons risk of heart disease or heart attack but insurance companies discourage it being ordered as a test. Hopefully your doctor will be calling you to explain the results.

My kidney values always concern me. My doctor always explains them away as being nothing. I will have to go pull my records out and check them. I used to get all worried after reading my results because I was worried I was having kidney issues but my doc always says I am fine. I guess he was right because I am doing ok. We get ourselves so worked up looking at our results and most of the time it is all for not. I wouldn't worry too much until after she explains your results to you.

I think she's checking on my heart because she asked me about my maternal and paternal Grandparents what did they die from (the Grandpaws heart attacks and the Grandmas (my Dad's Mom - she died from cerebral vascular accident #2generalized arterosclerosis) I'm looking at the death certificates.
Her Mother, my Great Grandma died from Cerebral Hemmorage #2 cerebral sclerosis (the 1 & #2 are listed on their death certificates as cause of death).

My Mom's Mom had a stroke, I'd have to drag out my Geneaolgy books to see what they all died from on that side of the family  but I do know the Grandpaws also had heart attacks, as my Mom's Dad died before I was born.

I can't help but think tho this pain in my right rib cage could possibly be my kidney inflammed from a possible stomach aoreta being clogged.It's all on my right side this is happening. And if my arteries are so clogged to have the fatty tissue deposit under my eyes, then I must be blocked other than my leg if the fatty deposits have no where to go. We have blood vessels going to our kidneys, which could get blocked.
And it would make sense why my output isn't much during the day.
Only at night if my legs swell then I have a full stream of pee.

WhenI told her the story of how I knew both times my artery in my leg was clogged, the last surgery the Dr was going to argue about it, but ordered my the doppler cuff test anyway. When it came back positive, he said "I guess you were right let's get you in and taken care of" (In a matter of a few days I had Angioplasty #2 done.)

I thought she would schedule me to have the doppler cuff test done, instead she starts reading the 2 surgeons notes and how the last surgery was going to be a "possible femorial___ artery bypass".
I told her yes, but I only have 2 stents in my behind my bladder I can have several more in me before cutting open my leg...
Then she said "Let's see what the surgeon has to say maybe he has a better idea instead of the doppler test"....
This I was irked at as it's a simple blood pressure type test, it does not hurt me.It's at your ankle, knee and upper thigh. It sounds like a baby heart monitor :::swoosh...swooosh...::: and the quieter the "swoosh " sound the less blood flow you have flowing through your arteries.

So I don't know.
The surgeon is a good one, I would trust him, he did 2 surgeries on Dave (hernias)
I just thought I could get a simple test done before today and quite worrying about being blocked again.
THank you all who have wrote.
I'm still curious what the Plembotimist used that looks like a butterfly or a mini IV poke kit.
It's easier on your arm as she changes all those vials

[3sisters]

Hi Kathy,

I'm hoping that your Doc will do some further investigation into your kidneys with the elevation of you BUN and creatinine, and the decrease in your GFR. One simple and non invasive test would be a 24 hour catch. Also, to retest your blood once a month for a period of months, to see if there are changes or not.
More invasive tests (like a kidney biopsy) are done afterward.

It's frustrating because those blood tests don't tell you if the decrease in your kidney function is autoimmune related inflammation or vascular issues like you mentioned. I'll be really honest with you, I'd take vascular/artery kidney issues over Lupus attacking the kidney ANY day.

Your mother's mom had Sjogrens, and possibly thick blood issues that were related to her cardio-vascular issue's, which most likely caused the clot in her brain. Keep the sucky "auto-immune" family tree in mind. 

Please know that I'm thinking of you and I want you get answers!    

Oh, and please mention to your doc that you do get up a lot a night to pee, and the swelling in your ankles and feet.
Hugs, Kimmy