The Temple is an amazing place! While there I think I finally figured out the 8th and 16th notes Ive been struggling with! It was so easy all along! Then I remembered what I wanted to blog the other night! Well as you know (if not you should if you know me and are reading my blog) I am an EMT and work on an ambulance. I deal with illnesses on a daily basis and am quite familiar with and comfortable in the medical field. This has come in handy in the past quite frequently when through my own knowledge or some online studying, or books I have pretty much been able to diagnose myself with some of my previous medical problems. Like for instance when I was having wrist problems I happened to be at a friends house. Her mom had just been diagnosed with carpal tunnel and had been to the library. So I was reading some books about carpal tunnel. As I was reading there was a small paragraph about a type of tendonitis called DeQuervains Disease. I said this sounds like my symptoms more than carpal tunnel. The next week I went to my doctor.... as you probably guessed..... I was diagnosed with Dequervains disease! It was too crazy! I have kinda been able to tell also before seeing the doctor in the past when I had a new ear infection, and before seeing the doctor I knew I was going to end up having wrist surgery and I kinda knew with my knee too (although I didnt figure it out to be a miniscus tear I just kinda felt the surgery coming) So like I said being in the medical field has kind of helped me from time to time. It has also helped me to be able to understand more of the medical terminology used by doctors and so I have needed less "laymans terms".
But everything has its opposites. For every pro there is usually at least one con.... here is mine. As well as being able to understand medical stuff I am trained to recognize symptoms and even though in the field we are not allowed to "diagnose" we are only allowed technically to "treat the symptoms", we can usually have a good clue as to what the diagnosis is for what we are treating. So my con is when I have a headache I know it could just be a migraine from skipping lunch but I often start doing a stroke test on myself. When I was sick the other day and had stomach pains, so I began to wonder the possibility of it being my appendix or my gallbladder or something else internal since I knew it wasnt cramps from my monthly cycle. I also pretty much knew it wasnt my appendix or otherwise, because my pain would likely have been much worse. But knowing the medical side of it I began to think the worst. This happens to me a lot. If I start having allergy symptoms I wonder if its going to be a severe allergic reaction and am I going to go into anapylaxic shock! Its stupid I know. But its what I do. I must say though at the same time my job has taught me a lot about the 911 system and how some people complete abuse it when it isnt necessary to call, and how often times the people that need it the most, dont call or wont until it is too late! I havent ever had a need to call 911 for myself and I think that I would know the difference between a true medical emergency and valid use for calling it. I have called in several accidents in the past and fires and such but never anything like a headache or stomach cramps from teh 24 hour flu or food poisoning or whatever the heck that was on Sun!
Anyways I hope I havent turned anyone away from calling 911 and I hope I dont scare you into thinking I neglect my own medical needs, but I have an understanding and appreciation for a side of things that many dont know. I am not invincible and if for some reason I reall did think I was having an appendicitis I wouldve had someone drive me to the Emergency Room and if nobody was around I wouldve called 911. But I was good! And I am glad to say I am better now! Thank goodness because I am going to Disneyland on Fri!
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Elegyrl, I know exactly what you mean. But overall I think it's better to know too much rather than too little, don't you think? If ever you are really really sick you're going to get it treated, whereas someone who is really really sick and thinks they're not really really sick will just get sicker and die. So maybe it's best you know a lot.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I second what you said Renee about the Medical stuff. Now I am becoming more and more of a medical nerd. And its pretty much, like the awesomest field to be in. I love doing medical research and learning about diseases,cancer, amputations, surgery's, injuries, how to treat injuries and all that jazz. Its because my major is BSN. I know, you all in the ambulances do a lot because you prepare the patients to get into the Emergency Room...so when they come in, everyone else will do the rest of the taking over. You deserve more credit than some people think and more pay at that too. You save lives, how awesome is that?
ReplyDeleteI sometimes, over diagnose myself at times, too. But I try not too. But it is always good to know those things. Because if ever in an emergency, you know exactly what to do and what's your responsibility.