Apple cider vinegar

Today wasn't very exciting. I pale in comparison to the other exciting blogs. Working in primary care over the summer has its rewards, though. I feel like I'm part of the solution (prevention).

I guess I could tell a story about my experience as a student so far.

I did my rotation at a level II trauma center in the heart of the downtown area in which I live. I got to see a lot of cool post op trauma patients -- and a lot of homeless patients. It's the charity hospital, so they admitted pretty much everyone.

I was preparing for clinical the night before. We got to pick our patients, so I picked a guy with a gambit of medical problems, was a little bit crazy, and, you guessed it, homeless. He was nice enough when I talked to him, so I decided he would be a good candidate for the teaching project I had to implement that day.

I picked hypertension as my educational topic (it pretty much was the root cause of all his problems). I prepared a presentation, made a brochure for him, and told him I would be teaching him about hypertension the next day. My instructor came in to watch my do my teaching project.

ME: Mr. Jones, I'm here to talk to you about high blood pressure like we discussed yesterday. Is now a good time?
MR JONES: You mean I'm here to talk to YOU about high blood pressure, right?
ME: (laughs) Sure, I guess you can look at it that way. I was going to start by telling you a little about what causes high blood pressure.
MR JONES: (staring intently at the television) I already know that.
ME: Well, then consider it review. What causes high blood pressure is a mixture of family inheritance, sedentary lifestyle, and obesity. Part of what makes high blood pressure so hard to treat is--
MR JONES: I know what high blood pressure is! And I know how to cure it. I take apple cider vinegar. One time my blood pressure went up so high I took the vinegar and I passed out. I never let my blood pressure get up that high again. I take my medication for it every day. The lady at the jail took my medication away from me.
INSTRUCTOR: (confused look)
ME: Would you like to talk about your medications?
MR JONES: I know about my pills. I don't need to talk about my pills.
ME: Well, as motivation to take your pills I'm going to tell you a few things that happen when high blood pressure is uncontrolled.
MR JONES: I already KNOW. You pass out. That's why I take apple cider vinegar.
ME: Some other things that can happen is stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.
MR JONES: Girl, you are tellin' me what's UP. You don't let a guy just sit around thinkin' he's OK until one day he has a stroke and BAM he's dead. You tell a guy what's up. You know what's up.
INSTRUCTOR: (wtf? look)
ME: Yes, that's why I'm here, to tell you what can happen if you aren't able to control high blood pressure. Here's a brochure I wrote up for you.
MR JONES: (looking at it in awe) YOU wrote this for ME?
ME: Yes, I did.
MR JONES: Wow, this is the SHIT. (Starts reading it aloud).
ME: Well, I'm glad you like it.

Weirdest shit ever. Oh well, he gave my professor a rave review even though he didn't seem to like me at all. He had his foot hanging out of the bed (had an ulcer on it) and I ran into it a few times. When I suggested we put the foot back into the bed, he flipped out.

Why do I always get the psych/medical patients?