Index Title: JPINGULs Medical Anecdotal Report  [05-09]

Date of Medical Observation: October 6, 2005

Title: Help yourself

 Narration: 

I was duty at the ER when a 22-year-old male came in severe agony, with his head down and seated on a wheel-chair.  Apparently, he was eating chick embryo (balot), which was a common local delicacy, and swallowed the whitish hardened by-product.  The object lodged into the proximal portion of his esophagus, which caused him to drool and panic. 

He was not dyspneic and his vital signs were stable, so the hospital triage referred him to ENT.  But when the doctor examined him and ordered that he be taken to the x-ray for imaging, he inserted his finger into his mouth and induced vomiting upon himself.  He was successful, the hard object along with other food particles lay scattered on the floor where he was seated. 

The on-lookers cheered and the symptoms were spontaneously relieved, the patient was sent home. 

INSIGHTS: (discovery, stimulus, REINFORCEMENT) (physical, PSYCHOSOCIAL, ethical)

For the case presented, it was the patient’s will to get well from his disease.  He asked for help, but when the most obvious solution took a long time to be done, the patient took matters into his own hands – literally.  Fortunately, for this patient the events went in favor to his side. 

The were times when the most simple and obvious seemed far fetched, even outrageous.  Some of those in the medical field would do imaging studies, just to be sure, others just out of routine.  Some patients feel obliged to follow, but for those who feel the urgency, either they asked others for opinion or for this case, treat his own ailment.