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.
For a moment there I thought it was The Voices telling her she had jaundice.
ReplyDeleteMaybe her friend was Dr. Google :P
This is normal at the VA. One off-the-cuff, unsubstantiated diagnosis becomes immortal.
ReplyDelete