{"id":12352,"date":"2025-10-18T20:10:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12352"},"modified":"2025-10-18T22:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T22:52:10","slug":"husband-medical-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/18\/husband-medical-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Husband medical update – SNAFU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon had his abdominal ultrasound scan on Friday, and it was reassuring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, there are gallstones and sludge in the gallbladder, as expected, but there\u2019s nothing else sinister going on in there. Also, the gallbladder itself is fairly thin walled and relaxed, ready and waiting to be whipped out by our friendly travelling general surgeon in a month\u2019s time. Incidentally, he believes, even now, that Simon is adhering faithfully to his no fat diet. Bless.<\/p>\n

Of course life would have been easier if we could have had access to the CT scan he had done in Glasgow, or even the report, but they refused to give it to us. In the UK, the patient\u2019s notes belong to the NHS, not the patient, unlike here in New Zealand. For my entire career, we\u2019ve always had to be a little wary of what we write in the medical notes, knowing that the patient might one day see what you\u2019ve written. And quite rightly, you may say – and I\u2019d agree with you. But when I started out in medicine, this was not the prevailing culture at all. Often you would see things written that would cause a snicker or a raised eyebrow. Cunning acronyms would give the illusion that only another medical professional would understand what you\u2019d written, but surely that was just wishful thinking.
\nOf course, we still have medical acronyms, some of which are useful and inoffensive, although mildly annoying if you don\u2019t happen to know the particular one being used. An example would be FOOSH, fall on an outstretched hand, a typical cause of a broken arm. Also, of course, ECG, BP, TOE (trans oesophageal echocardiogram), that sort of thing.
\nSome I\u2019ve heard used but never seen written down, such as FLK for funny looking kid. These can sometimes be explained by an accompanying FLP (funny looking parent).<\/p>\n

TWAT is clearly a more modern acronym – tried walking and texting, as an explanation for an injury – but again, I\u2019ve never actually seen it written down.
\nNFN, normal for Norfolk, obviously isn\u2019t used here, but could possibly be there in a modified form for some of our more isolated rural communities.
\nThe terms LOL in NAD (little old lady in no apparent distress) and GOMER (get out of my emergency room) were made famous in the book\u00a0House of God\u00a0<\/em>by Samuel Shem, a semi autobiographical book written by an American doctor in the 70s. It gives you a real feeling for the dehumanising effect of medical training. So much for \u201cthe caring professions\u201d.<\/p>\n

FUBAR BUNDY, fucked up beyond all repair\/reason\/recognition, but unfortunately not dead yet, is one in a similar vein. \u00a0The first part is also used in the military and wider community I think.
\nThe O sign is shown by someone who is unconscious, and refers to the mouth hanging open. The Q sign demonstrates a further deterioration, when the tongue is now hanging out. You might occasionally hear these spoken of.<\/p>\n

There are many more. I found the following article which is actually quite horrifying in its callousness. I think you can be reassured that the majority of healthcare workers these days wouldn\u2019t dream of writing any of these things, not for fear of reprisals or because we\u2019re all too woke, but because\u2026.actually I realise I don\u2019t know why we wouldn\u2019t now. It would just be anathema. Is it because our working conditions are better so that we\u2019re able to retain our humanity? Is it just a culture thing? I don\u2019t know. Whatever the reason, good riddance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

http:\/\/messybeast.com\/dragonqueen\/medical-acronyms.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon had his abdominal ultrasound scan on Friday, and it was reassuring.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3de","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12168,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/21\/7-am-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":12352,"position":0},"title":"7 am update","author":"Interloper11","date":"September 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In the end it was 4 am before they called Simon\u2019s name. Well, actually they called \u201cSimone\u201d which I assumed was some weird local pronunciation but became clearer when we saw they\u2019d misspelled his name on his wristband. We were privileged to get a cubicle all to ourselves, because some\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3462-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12416,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/d-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":12352,"position":1},"title":"D day","author":"Interloper11","date":"November 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Or S day? For surgery? Or O day (operation)? Or, indeed L day (laparoscopic cholecystectomy), or even G day (gallbladder). In fact, virtually any letter but D. But whatever it\u2019s called, today was The Big Day\u2026Simon has had his gallbladder removed. He was first on the list so I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_4185-768x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_4185-768x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_4185-768x1024.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9769,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/18\/nad\/","url_meta":{"origin":12352,"position":2},"title":"NAD","author":"Interloper11","date":"January 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The scan was pretty uneventful. They wanted to give me IV contrast, a dye that\u2019s injected directly into a vein to show up blood (supply) more clearly on the scan. I knew it had a high rate of allergic reactions, but they also warned me that it can cause you\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12171,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/21\/later-the-same-day-glasgow-royal-infirmary-21-september\/","url_meta":{"origin":12352,"position":3},"title":"Later the same day Glasgow Royal Infirmary 21 September","author":"Interloper11","date":"September 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Ward 64 to be more specific: surgical receiving, ie in limbo between a real surgical ward and the badlands of ED. Simon left A and E a few hours after I did, to come here. 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