uncle, i call uncle damn it.

[Rastus]

Amen to that!  I spent last weekend in ICU with a Saddle Pulmonary Embolism.  I knew I was okay, the real threat happened two weeks earlier, but everyone else freaked. 

So what's a Saddle Pulmonary Embolism?  Just the name freaks me out.

Also, Tab....getting on an even keel yet?

[MikeBjerum]

So what's a Saddle Pulmonary Embolism?  Just the name freaks me out.

Also, Tab....getting on an even keel yet?

Too many years of medical training:

It is when the emboli (clot) sits at the "saddle" of the aorta (the place just prior to the lungs where the aorta forms two branches), and it extends down both branches.  Think of it as a cowboy on a saddle with one leg on each side of the horse.

As far as serious, they are large and in an area where they can cut off all flow, but because of their location they do not move as easily as others.  Think of stringy stuff in a utility sink drain that loops over the cross bars in the drain.

[Big Frank]

I knew what a pulmonary embolism was but didn't have a clue about that saddle P.E.

[Rastus]

Dang that is really serious.  Mike I didn't know you had medical training or maybe I just forgot.

[MikeBjerum]

Almost 20 years as an EMT, and 15 of those as an instructor in the state vo-tech system training EMT'S and fire fighters.  Then there is the BS in Mortuary Science, which is part of Univ. Of Minnesota Medical School.  And, then 25 years of talking with docs as they do autopsies that I need to stitch back together.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

EMT and Funeral home operator ?
Isn't that a conflict of interest ?
These are the kind of things I wonder about at before my first coffee.

[MikeBjerum]

In Minnesota they call it "The Rule Of '69"

1969is when legislation took ambulance services out of funeral homes.  Funeral directors were the only people with vehicles and equipment to handle the injured and sick (and dead).

I actually resigned as an EMT and instructor 6 months after taking over the funeral home.  Picture this:  You are in your mid 70's, you wake up at 5am feeling nauseous, soon chest pains start, your wife calls the ambulace, and you recognize the first two responders through the door - A very well known local pastor and the town undertaker.  I could cause the kind of fear and concern I saw in that mman's eyes or heard in his words, "I'm not that bad!"

[tombogan03884]

ROFL yeah, I see where that would cause problems.

[Solus]

In Minnesota they call it "The Rule Of '69"

1969is when legislation took ambulance services out of funeral homes.  Funeral directors were the only people with vehicles and equipment to handle the injured and sick (and dead).

I actually resigned as an EMT and instructor 6 months after taking over the funeral home.  Picture this:  You are in your mid 70's, you wake up at 5am feeling nauseous, soon chest pains start, your wife calls the ambulace, and you recognize the first two responders through the door - A very well known local pastor and the town undertaker.  I could cause the kind of fear and concern I saw in that mman's eyes or heard in his words, "I'm not that bad!"

Would make a very good scene in some Dark Comedy movie.   

[Magoo541]

Like Mike said, a saddle PE is pretty serious but I was okay when it happened-looking back I know when that was.  But EVERYONE else looked at me like I was a dead man walking.  The Thoracic Surgeon kept eyeballing me until I asked him what was wrong during one of his early morning visits (no rest in a hospital-by the way) and he told me he wanted to open me up-as in open chest surgery.  I asked him why he didn't, he told me he couldn't because I was doing too well.