In Yale basement, a ‘shop of horrors’ concealed medical history

 

Dr. Harvey Cushing is credited with being the first surgeon to successfully remove a brain tumor; his most famous patient was Leonard Wood, a prominent U.S. military leader and 1920 presidential candidate.

Cushing also pioneered the use of a new surgical instrument, the cauterizing Bovie tool, which boosted brain surgery survival rates from less than 20 percent to more than 90 percent.

He was exhaustive in his analysis of tumors and other neurological diseases, often photographing patients before and after surgery, and obtaining his patients’ permission to study their brains posthumously. The photos and the brains provided valuable insight to visiting neurosurgeons for decades, both before and after Cushing’s death in 1939.

Cushing’s collection, though, lost relevance amid the proliferation of competing brain registries. In 1979, it was moved below the medical school dorm along with lab materials, an old gurney, and stacks of photographic negatives.

Source: In Yale basement, a ‘shop of horrors’ concealed medical history

Giving Thanks, Day 4: October 21, 2017

Adapted from this post: http://www.maryo.co/giving-thanks-day-4-october-21-2017/

 

 

I am so thankful for all my doctors but today I am thankful for Dr. Amir Al-Juburi who saved my life by removing my kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma).

 

In 2006 I picked up my husband for a biopsy and took him to an outpatient surgical center. While I was there waiting for the biopsy to be completed, I started noticing blood in my urine and major abdominal cramps. I left messages for several of my doctors on what I should do. I finally decided to see my PCP after I got my husband home.

 

When Tom was done with his testing, his doctor took one look at me and asked if I wanted an ambulance. I said no, that I thought I could make it to the emergency room ok – Tom couldn’t drive because of the anesthetic they had given him. I barely made it to the ER and left the car with Tom to park. Tom’s doctor followed us to the ER and became my new doctor.

 

When I was diagnosed in the ER with kidney cancer, Tom’s doctor said that he could do the surgery but that he would recommend someone even more experienced, Dr. Amir Al-Juburi.

 

Dr. Amir Al-Juburi has been so kind to me, almost like a kindly grandfather might be, and he got rid of all 10 pounds of my kidney and cancer.

 

I owe him, the original doctor, and my Cushing’s doctors (who will be featured later!), my life.

 

Adventures with Human Growth Hormone: Travelling (Flying)

This is from a post on my travel blog.

Just after 3:00 pm Friday August 25, 2017 we took an Uber to Dulles Airport

Going through TSA there was no issue with my refrigerated growth hormone injections.

The Omnitrope was in its own case from the manufacturer.

I put that in that new iCool weekender case I’d bought for this trip.  I chose this one for these reasons:

  • For vials or pens (insulin, growth hormones, L-Thyroxin, polyarthritis medication)
  • Keeps your medication between 36°F – 46°F (2°C – 8°C) for 12 hours (I knew this trip would be about 20 hours, start to finish)
  • The iCool bag uses a new generation of chemical gel pack that generates very little condensation and have a slower thawing period than traditional ice packs. This allows patients with diabetes or those using temperature sensitive medications to transport their medications for a longer cooling period. The iCool Weekender keeps insulin or other temperature sensitive medications cool for up to 12 hours at 36°F – 46°F (2 to 8°C). This bag can carry either pens or vials. There is enough space inside to store needles.

 

Then I had put the gel pack from the iCool frozen solid and put that in a small Rubbermaid lunch bag with 2 thin ice packs,  1 on top and 1 on the bottom.  If you don’t want to read all the way to the end, this system kept the growth hormone cold for the 20 hours going and returning but the 2 thin blocks had completely thawed.  The inner iCool was mostly frozen and the growth hormone was still cool.

Hooray!

I had the sharps separately in a little square container with just enough for the week.  I used the side pocket of the lunch bag to store my doctor’s note and clipped the whole thing with a carabiner to my backpack.

I also found a smallish sharps disposal container, although this was still kind of big for my needs, it was better than taking the whole huge one that’s in my bathroom.  This worked well and I have enough for 5 more trips 🙂

And that’s about it for medical information, at least until we get to Heathrow 🙂

Then, since we were coming from outside the UK we had to leave security area and go through TSA again.

I told the agent I was carrying refrigerated medications and she read the doctor’s letter.  Everything seemed like it was going well until I was flagged for more screening 😦  I had to take all the stuff out of my carefully packed Growth Hormone bag and everything else was taken out of my backpack to be swabbed down.

After 20 hours at 4:15pm  (11:15 am at home) I finally removed the growth hormone from the cases.  The 2 ice packs had melted but the GH in its weekender case was still cool and that gel pack mostly frozen.  A good solution except for issues at Heathrow.

Low-dose Steroids Relieve Sore Throat Pain

I sure wish I knew this when I had a major sore throat for the last 2 weeks.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A single low dose of corticosteroids speeds pain relief in patients who have sore throat, without serious adverse effects, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in The BMJ along with parallel clinical practice guidelines.

“The relative effects were similar across severities, though patients with less severe throat had less absolute benefit with corticosteroids,” Dr. Behnam Sadeghirad of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and colleagues write in their September 20 report. “The balance of benefits and harms therefore almost certainly depends on the severity of the patient’s sore throat.”…

 

Read more at Low-dose Steroids Relieve Sore Throat Pain