"If you don't take a temperature you can't find a fever"

From the brilliant tell-all novel House of God by the pseudonymous Samuel Shem.

Who needs testing?

Just remember: the chief resident invented Dr Jung’s Anal Mirror so people could see their own. How great is THAT?

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6 replies	Author	Time	Post
"If you don't take a temperature you can't find a fever" (Original post)	PCIntern	May 2020	OP
Fever is something I frequently have to educate my patients about.	Aristus	May 2020	#1
good point, Aristus. Thank you for that.	CTyankee	May 2020	#2
Patient education is my favorite part of the job.	Aristus	May 2020	#3
"brain-dead ham hock"	CTyankee	May 2020	#4
Ahhhh...House of God. Loved that book. Remember "The Rose Room",	Cousin Dupree	May 2020	#5
😄	PCIntern	May 2020	#6

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Tue May 12, 2020, 10:17 AM

Aristus (54,316 posts)

1. Fever is something I frequently have to educate my patients about.

One cannot confirm a fever unless one has one's temperature taken. One can feel 'feverish'; i.e. hot, sweaty, fatigued, etc., without having an actual fever, which is 101.0 Fahrenheit or 38 Celsius or higher.

I've had patients tell me they had a fever and confirmed it with a thermometer reading.

"What was it?"

"98.9"

"That's not a fever".

"Well, my temperature runs low, so 98.9 is a fever for me."

"It doesn't work like that; fever is fever for everyone."

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Response to Aristus (Reply #1)

Tue May 12, 2020, 10:21 AM

CTyankee (58,328 posts)

2. good point, Aristus. Thank you for that.

Bless you for having the patience to explain this stuff to the people who don't know or just plain don't care to know what's real and what's just in their heads.

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Response to CTyankee (Reply #2)

Tue May 12, 2020, 10:35 AM

Aristus (54,316 posts)

3. Patient education is my favorite part of the job.

Explaining things to people who are genuinely unaware of important medical information. I love it.

The patients who try my patience (sorry) are the ones who dismiss the information because some brain-dead hamhock told them differently. *cough*antivaxxers*cough*.

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Response to Aristus (Reply #3)

Tue May 12, 2020, 10:41 AM

CTyankee (58,328 posts)