I had a magnificent time shadowing Dr. Handy. He taught me lots of things that I would not know having not during a rotation with him. I was able to complete over 23 hours with him and wish I could do many more. I was able to experience many things that I may never see in my profession. I was a completely different environment for me, compared to being at a college of high school. 90% of his patients were over the age of 50. During my rotation I noticed that more than half of the patients had COPD or diabetes or both.
One of the first patients during my rotation I saw was an older woman with type II diabetes and COPD, she never smoked however had asthma that progressed into COPD. Dr. Handy then explained to me that most of the patients I will meet have type II diabetes. I meet a very interesting man with an autoimmune disorder where he suffers from a burning tongue and jaw. He had been seen by many different doctors. He had a hard time with many of the doctors and spend a lot of time talking to us about how doctors need to work hard and understand their patients. At the end of the appointment when Dr. Handy asked if he had any other concerns, and he lifted up his shirt and said yes, this spot has worried him. After Dr. Handy looked at the spot he immediately determined it was a squamous cell that needs to be removed. However, I was not on his rotation during that time, so I was not able to see him remove it. On the last day of my first week I meet an older man with rheumatoid arthritis experiencing severe shoulder pain, Dr. Handy decided to use a steroid shot in both AC joints. I was able to comfort the patient while Dr. Handy was giving the shots. Then walked into the last appointment of the day, to meet a woman who had just had a colonoscopy done, six years late. Dr. Handy had been pushing this woman for many years to have it done however she refused. She had it done a couple days before she met with Dr. Handy, he explained to her that the images they took did not look good and there was a potential for cancer. A couple days later I conformed with him that it was cancer. My final day with Dr. Handy was a completely different than ever anything I had ever done before. I was able to go do home visits, I was able to meet four patients from the age of 40 all the way up to 93 years old that were unable or unwilling to travel to Dr. Handy’s office. The patients were all very different from weight to gender to ability to communicate. Two of the patients weighed over 500 pounds and were both unable to move around their houses, one man and one woman. The man was on a road to recovery and had already lost over 300 pounds. The woman however was gaining weight and explained to me that she did not care, nor did she believe in doctors. The that stood out to me the most was the third patient was a 78-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s and prereferral vascular disease who had her left leg amputated and no pulse in her right leg with her pinky toe and fourth toe black. Dr. Handy made sure to all her prescriptions were filled. I asked about her toes and amputations about her toes, he told me that if they do amputations it leaves an open sore where as if they let the toes die on their own they will just fall off. The most exciting patient I was able to meet during my time with Dr. Handy was an older woman with a possible urinary tract infection, however she was unable to supply a urinary sample. She felt like she was about to burst, however could not use the restroom in public places. Dr. Handy knew he needed a urine sample, so he decided to use a catheter. I was able to assist with the insertion of the catheter.
0 Comments
|
AuthorMeg Greene Archives |