Can a hospice patient go to the hospital? A 79-year-old man on hospice for heart failure falls, and his blood count explains why he was admitted.
Hospital 366 Days: Two Bypass Surgeries, One Fall, and a Hospice Question (Case No. 45) Read Post »
A PleurX catheter let her drain lung fluid at home, with her husband at the controls. Two weeks later she was back in the ER. A composite case.
Hospital 366 Days: The Husband Who Learned to Drain Her Lung (Case No. 44) Read Post »
A heating pad burn, three falls in one week, and a 2.8 cm aorta found by chance. A composite case of a 63-year-old man living alone.
A heart failure exacerbation sent an 87-year-old to the hospital after she took her water pill only “when she felt like it.” Why the daily dose matters. (152 chars)
Secondary Keywords: furosemide daily use, Lasix for heart failure, daily weight monitoring, CHF fluid overload, medication adherence
Hospital 366 Days: The Pill She Took “When She Felt Like It” (Case No. 42) Read Post »
Recurrent falls in the elderly are the leading cause of injury death. One 75-year-old’s fall shows why the rib, the bill, and living alone all matter.
Hospital 366 Days: The Night the Bathtub Won (Case No. 41) Read Post »
Stage IV cholangiocarcinoma took Stan from diagnosis to first chemo to death in one week. A composite ED case file on how fast advanced bile duct cancer moves.
Hospital 366 Days: The Week That Held Everything (Case No. 40) Read Post »
Recurrent paracentesis in cirrhosis meant draining Frank’s abdomen 10 times in 5 months, and a blood sugar of 51 revealed a second failing system.
Hospital 366 Days: The Fluid That Kept Coming Back (Case No. 39) Read Post »
A cocaine hypertensive emergency at 220/112: how a stimulant drives blood pressure to organ-damaging levels, and the quiet lab numbers underneath it.
Acute arm arterial occlusion in an AFib patient on a blood thinner: how daily drinking undercut protection and led to a pale, pulseless arm.
A diabetic foot ulcer not healing after every antibiotic was finished. The wrong drug, a missed appointment, and the road toward amputation.
Hospital 366 Days: The Antibiotic That Was Never Going to Work (Case No. 36) Read Post »
A fentanyl patch overdose rarely looks like one. A composite hospice case: 90 minutes in the sun, 3 doses of Narcan, and a DNR order that decided nothing.
Hospital 366 Days: The Hospice Patient Who Had to Be Woken Three Times (Case No. 35) Read Post »
A diabetic foot infection is cured by finishing antibiotics. A composite case: one stretched pill bottle, a lost Medicaid card, and a returning infection.
Hospital 366 Days: The Antibiotic He Made Last (Case No. 34) Read Post »
