Last One!!

Just thought I'd share one last set of images from a patient I scanned....

This patient is suffering from ischemic bowel disease. This is the first time I had ever seen anything like it. The radiologist I spoke with about the exam said that this patient would not live much longer... due to HIPAA, I didn't go snooping to find out what actually happened to him but once again, it's hard to walk back into a room and speak to a patient knowing that something is really really wrong with them.

On a better note, for the first time last week I scanned the abdomen/pelvis of a 56 day old baby. Earlier in the week I had done this same baby's chest x-ray and his symptoms included a fever of unknown origin, lack of appetite, and constant fussiness. The patient apparently had had a KUB done earlier in the day and it was suspected that he had a small bowel obstruction. The patient was to receive IV and oral contrast. He drank 4 oz. of oral contrast on the floor and then I gave him a little more through a bottle when he arrived in the department. I spoke with the radiologist before beginning the exam and it was decided to do one scan straight through about 60 seconds after injected of IV contrast. No delay kidneys to save the patient from excess radiation.

So, after the patient took the bottle with oral contrast, I did the scout images and then injected 9mL of contrast through a 24 gauge in the left side of the patient's skull! I was extremely nervous about this but everything went really well. The mother and grandmother did an excellent job of keeping the patient still and it went off without a hitch. Our head radiologist even came out to tell me how good of a job I did! All in all a great scan!

Hope everyone has had a great summer! I am so glad to be finished with school!!! Woo hoo!

This Week

Yesterday I worked dayshift in CT which is a totally different experience from 2nd shift. For one thing, there are at least 4 techs there during the days whereas on 2nd shift there are only 2. This makes such a huge difference! It's nice to be able to finish an exam, get all your paperwork completed and get the study sent to the radiologist without having to worry about taking care of the next patient to come in the room. Overall it was a very good day! My patients were great, no one complained and I got to take a real 30 minute lunch break... not eat my food while sitting at the scanner! It was awesome!

Which was great compared to last Tuesday when the two of us techs plus the tech aide that was there between 3-11 never got to eat at all! We were so super busy, a scanner was down due to PM's and it was just a mad house!

This past Monday was also interesting.... Due to an upgrade to Synapse, we had to print out dictation forms, print previous reports and take them to the radiologist to be read... thankfully we have a test environment so our studies could still be looked at digitally but the whole running up and down the hallway every time something needed to be read got old really quickly! It's funny how fast we get spoiled to being completely digital... I remember when every exam had to be taken to the radiologist to be read and we had to sit in the reading room to take reports for stat exams! On top of all the extra hassle, the Lanier dictation system went down in the ER reading room so everything had to be moved to the MRI reading room in order for the doctor to have access to anything! It was crazy!

All in all, I'll be glad when this week is over!! Too bad I have to work the weekend though!