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Ok, I have to say something, especially as I keep getting pulled into in these posts. COVID-19 causes ARDS. I keep hearing the refrain that it is not ARDS because “the compliance is normal.”
Susan Wilcox, MD
1,373 posts
Susan Wilcox, MD
@MiscSusan
Emergency Medicine-Critical Care physician with interests in mechanical ventilation, pulmonary hypertension, and critical care transport.
- Attending at a new hospital this week, and I'm keeping a tally of the times I have introduced myself to a colleague as "Susan Wilcox, the new Intensivist," and they have responded, "Hi Susan, I'm Dr. ____." So far, it's 5. But it's only Thursday. And I started on Tuesday.
- There’s someone in my life I love very much. He is a doctor. And, he is an alcoholic.
- I actually stop them. I politely say, “Did you just refer to me by my first name while referring to yourself as doctor? I am glad for you to call me Susan, but it should be in parallel.” Three have gotten the point and responded kindly. Two ignored it.
- 5 years ago today, I woke feeling fine, then quickly developed malaise. An hour later, I started to rigor. I know rigors are bad, but I thought (hoped?) it was viral. I developed horrible, diffuse abd pain, vomiting, and relentless rigors. I had no idea what was going on. 1/18
- Replying to @MiscSusanOur healthcare workers are struggling. He is not the only one. We need to help our colleagues with compassion and empathy. It is to the benefit of all to do so.
- Well, I don’t want other doctors to call me “Dr. Wilcox.” We are colleagues. Just like people who work in on a team in offices don’t usually call one another “Mr.” or “Ms.” If someone wants to go by “Dr.” that’s fine. But then they should extend the courtesy to others.
- Replying to @MiscSusanI thought I had empathy for my patients before, but I did not understand how scary, how disorienting even an acute illness is. Be gentle with your patients. They have stressors you don't see. They are more scared than you realize. Small kindnesses mean more than you know. 18/18
- Replying to @MiscSusanThat combination is not surprising. Numerous studies have shown that 10-15% of physicians struggle with substance use disorders at some point in their careers. For nurses, some reports suggest nearly 20%. What is noteworthy, however, is the ongoing stigma.
- Replying to @MiscSusanIt is 2021. Hopefully by now we have learned that treating anyone with a substance use disorder with derision does not help. Shame is not an effective strategy. It only exacerbates the issue. If we truly want to help (and I certainly hope we do) we need a different approach.
- Replying to @MiscSusanOh, and PLEASE put back the bedside table. That was my #1 pet peeve - doctors would come in, move my table away to examine me - the table with my glasses, my water (pre-ileus). . . and leave it out of reach. Then I would struggle, blind, to get it and pull it back over. #impolite
- Replying to @MiscSusanThe stigma also impacts those around him who do know about his condition. If I stand by a person with cancer, I am an angel or a hero. If I stand by a person with alcoholism, I am a fool who should know better.
- Replying to @MiscSusanI'm not saying that we have no room to improve, no room to learn. Of course we do. We always do. But this is not the time to abandon 25 years of well-done research in favor of anecdotes and opinions - many of which are promulgated without even offering biological plausibility.
- If you told me 20 years ago that our trauma surgeons would have to remind lawmakers that making school children act like little trauma medics is not a solution to the gun crisis, I would have thought you were joking. And I would have been mad about your sick, unfunny joke.