#27- Good COMMUNICATION a Necessity

February 27, 2018

More here continuing from #26- Your healthcare is YOUR HEALTHCARE! … BUT those tests are only good if the technician making the report doesn’t rewrite what the X-ray report really showed or they didn’t stuff in what a doctor wrote previously.

In continuing from the previous page we see how the tests and lab work is done as part of the doctor’s work. If the assessments and actions with the tests are done well then the problems can grow. Beyond that there needs to be great communication between the doctors and the lab people and the technicians. For instance how can the doctor know that there’s a bone biopsy needle for a small suction bit that can give good results with less painful costs unless there is that communication?

How will the MRI person make a report accurately when there were two broken limbs, but the doctor didn’t tell them of that? Even if the patient says something and the technician doesn’t see a notification in the doctor’s report then the MRI is a waste of time and money for everyone. Look at the other tests here with Osteomyelitis (Bone Infection) from MedicineNet.com, by John P. Cunha.

Osteomyelitis is an infection of bone.
…
A delay in diagnosis or treatment of osteomyelitis can lead to permanent deficits…

There are several different ways to develop the bone infection of osteomyelitis. The first is for bacteria to travel through the bloodstream (bacteremia) and spread to the bone, causing an infection. This most often occurs when the patient has an infection elsewhere in the body, such as pneumonia, an abscessed tooth, or a urinary tract infection that spreads through the blood to the bone…In adults, the symptoms often develop more gradually and include

fever, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
chills, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
irritability, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
swelling OR redness over the affected bone[s], [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
stiffness, [Yes for Rhapsodie!] and
nausea. [Yes for Rhapsodie!]…

The diagnosis of osteomyelitis begins with a complete medical history and physical examination. During the medical history,

the doctor may ask questions about recent infections elsewhere in the body, [DONE but doctors will only hear of 1 or 2 not more.]
past medical history, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
medication usage, [Yes for Rhapsodie!] and
family medical history. [In Rhapsodie’s medical file]

The physical examination will look for areas of

tenderness, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
redness, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
swelling, [Yes for Rhapsodie!]
decreased or painful range of motion, [Yes for Rhapsodie!] and
open sores. [NO for Rhapsodie!]

The doctor may then order tests to help diagnose osteomyelitis.

Several blood tests can be used to help determine if there is an infection present. These include
- a complete blood count (CBC),
- the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),
- C-reactive protein (CRP), and
- blood cultures.

None of these is specific for osteomyelitis but they can suggest that there MAY BE SOME INFECTION in the body. [NEVER DONE FOR RHAPSODIE] …After an area of bone is identified with possible osteomyelitis, a biopsy of the bone may be obtained to help determine precisely which bacteria are involved, and the culture of this can indicate the best choice for antibiotic treatment.

The information is very good in comparison with the other, but it also added the detail that the bone scans done COULD show osteomyelitis not that they would. The only way to do that is to get an accurate diagnosis is to do a biopsy of the bone. And that sounds horribly painful, if bone core is exposed that can be easier, but not if it’s buried. Bone skin and bone does feel pain, the outer area between the skin and the core may not feel as much because the nerves are centered near moving blood not ‘callused’ bone formations but I know every time a splice grows from a fracture.

BUT everything with these tests depends on the technologists and the lab technician’s accurately reporting AND the doctors & their medical teams accurately gathering and filing reports AND reviewing them accurately also…