(common things docs get asked)
My wife suggested this blog post, as her friends ask if people routinely hit me up for medical advice. I often stated that the only reason I kept my medical degree was to help call in prescriptions for friends, and I do receive quite a few texts with pictures of rash’s sent from friends—which is exactly what you want to appear on your phone while you’re out enjoying dinner (remember the good old days, when you went out to dinner?).
I guarantee every one of my orthopedic friends can tell you a story about being corralled at a family holiday, or wedding party, by someone who discovered they were an orthopedist and asks if they could examine their hip exam, look at Aunt Myra’s shoulder, or discuss their “friend’s” knee pain.
“Do you get called up on airplane flights?” is a question I get asked a lot. And I will admit, after a glass or two of wine, when an announcement is called, “Is there a doctor on the flight?” I sheepishly look around hoping someone more willing, more intelligent, more sober, has jumped ahead of me.
I had one flight, out of the mid-east years ago, the flight left around 3AM, and I was sleeping in the very back of a crowded flight that had been moved to a smaller, more cramped plane. I was passed out exhausted, when my far too altruistic friend shook me awake, “Hey, they need a doctor.”
I looked up, confused, took a few moments to understand what he saying… and then waited for someone else to move. On a crowded flight, nobody else raised their hand…come on, not one single doctor?
“Go, they need you,” my friend implored.
Finally the people around me are also looking beseechingly at me , shocked that I would not help. None of them understood the high level of imposter syndrome that I lived with and had no desire to confirm my lack of doctor skills in front of almost 300 people.
But, I walked from the very back, to the very front of the hot, crowded plane, and with every single person watching me, let the SwissAir flight attendant know I was a doctor, albeit tired. She pointed out a person slumped against the window next to us.
Well, this will be easy, I thought, he’s already dead.
There’s a certain light alabaster hue that skin of dead people take on. This overweight, pale, person who did not appear to be breathing, and was a bit sweaty, had likely had a heart attack.
His wife stared up at me, so I sat down to say hello, and to my shock, realized the supposedly dead person was still breathing.
Now what to do?
He looked like he had just suffered a heart attack…I looked next to me at the narrow aisle, no way we could maneuver this large individual to lie down so I could give compressions and CPR when he coded in a few seconds. No way.
I had no idea how we would do CPR… and I didn’t want to tell the SwissAir team to turn the flight around, that seemed dramatic as we all had places to go.
Hats off to the Swissair attendant however, she brought me a lovely IV kit and medicines…but I was really uncertain how to get an IV into this guy with massive arms, low blood pressure and no visible veins…no Intraosseous kit to drill into his shin bone and inject medicines that way either.
I decided to go back to basics…ask some history questions about his risk of heart attack…not sure the wife understood, but I asked, miming my questions best I could, and received some head nodding and shaking… finally, on the hot flight, I thought to ask, “Did he eat breakfast? No.
“Is he afraid of flying?” Yes..
“Does he get anxious?” Yes.
“Did he start breathing quickly before he passed out?” Yes.
And finally after awhile, I determined he had become hot and anxious on the early morning flight and passed out from a vasovagal response, which is when the blood from your body gets moved into your body, away from your limbs and brain, and you pass out.
The flight attendant got him some juice, and placed a cold towel on his head. He was back talking to us within ten minutes – still sweaty, and pale, but no longer needing me to figure out a way to jump on his chest for CPR compressions. I’m not sure who was more relieved between the two of us.
En route to the back of the plane, multiple people asked if wanted to examine their hip, or back, or hear about their history of heart disease. Nope.
My orthopedic friends however want you to know that they are actually offended when people do not ask them to examine their hip, knee or shoulders at social gatherings, it’s as though people are questioning their competence by not asking. So please make sure to hit up any orthopedic doctor for an exam at your next wedding or holiday party.