Just made my first-ever diagnosis of Hepatitis A. I owe my training for catching it.

[Aristus]

Patient presented with some fairly non-specific digestive symptoms with acute presentation. No jaundice, no icterus ( 'yellow eye' ), no dark brown urine.

I took the history of illness from him. He said he worked in a pet store cleaning the crap out of the cages. I immediately thought of the hepatitis meme we learned in PA School to detect Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E.

A and E: Fecal/oral transmission - "The vowels are in the bowels".

B and D: Blood transmission - "B and D are in the BlooD."

C: Due to IV drug use - "C is IV".

Due to his exposure to feces, I ran a lab test for Hep A. Came up positive.

I owe my teachers and preceptors more than I can ever repay...

[ZenDem]

1. They would all be very proud of you.

I'm glad there are people like you that actually give a damn about the rest of us.

Have a great weekend, Aristus. I hope you get some time to yourself.

[Aristus]

13. It's good to see you again, ZenDem.

I've missed you.

[Alliepoo]

2. That's fantastic!!

Love the meme you use to remember!!

[Aristus]

3. I laughed pretty loud the first time I ever heard "The vowels are in the bowels".

But it works...

[Skittles]

4. may I ask

fecal / oral, er, how does that happen

[Aristus]

5. Not washing before and after using the bathroom. Or before and after preparing food.

The patient is one of my homeless guys. He refuses to stay at the shelter. He's camping out instead. His resources for frequent washing are pretty scarce, although he does come in for a shower every week or so.

[Skittles]

7. ahh OK

yes I understand how challenging cleanliness can be for homeless folk.....I hope he will be OK

your job, it sounds like the emotions for you can swing pretty wildly......frustration to elation

[Aristus]

8. Homeless medical patients face challenges to good care a lot of people might not think of.

Like, for example, having a source of clean water with which to take one's medications.

That's something I never would have thought of before I started in homeless medicine.

[Skittles]

9. absolutely

whenever I venture into areas that have homeless folk I take some convenience store gift cards with me.....that way, they can make their own choices what they need

I really hope the next president will address the growing homeless issue - it is just heartbreaking.

[Aristus]

10. It was our fortieth President who made an existing situation immeasurably worse

with his fecklessness.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. Good on you...

I diagnosed my Gallbladder issues when I had my last attack in late June of 1996 based on the symptoms of previous attacks, length, location, pain , etc.

When undergoing an ultrasound, I described everything to the minute detail. Sure enough, I was right when the results came back multiple stones ranging from 4mm to 8mm in size. I was in surgery within 2 weeks to have it out.

[JohnnyLib2]

11. Good for you. Reassuring!

[raccoon]

12. I knew this was your post before I clicked on it. Nt

[Karadeniz]

14. Lucky guy! Glad he came to you!

[Ilsa]

15. I'm grateful to you for remembering your training,

even though I am not your patient.

Well done!