Friday, May 17, 2013

Cirrhosis rumors

Me: "How do you know you have cirrhosis?"

Patient: "They told me I did."

Me: "Who told you?"

Patient: "Oh, you know."

Me: "Did you ever have a liver biopsy?"

Patient: "No..."

Me: "Well, the ultrasound and the CT in the computer actually just show that you have some liver inflammation, not cirrhosis, so I'm just wondering who told you that. Was it a doctor?"

Patient: "No."

Me: "Then who told you?"

Patient: "A friend told me she thought I had cirrhosis because my eyes are yellow."

And then it goes on her problem list FOREVER.

2 comments:

  1. For a moment there I thought it was The Voices telling her she had jaundice.
    Maybe her friend was Dr. Google :P

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  2. This is normal at the VA. One off-the-cuff, unsubstantiated diagnosis becomes immortal.

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