Tuesday, October 03, 2006

HIV positive patient

I had my first HIV positive patient today. It was a little surreal. She didn't fit any of the stereotypes of what one might have for an HIV positive person. She was young, healthy-looking, well-spoken and polite. She seemed like your typical college-age women from anywhere in the US. She wasn't the one to tell us she was HIV positive (it was evident in her chart) and we didn't talk about it with her. All she needed done was a simple abdominal series and single view chest x-ray, so discussion of her condition was not warranted.

On a lighter note, I did my first shoulder x-ray today. Not too exciting but the pictures sure came out pretty. The shoulder is a really strange and complex joint and it's a wonder more people don't have problems with it. The patient needed both shoulders radiographed (he had been bucked off his horse a few days earlier). The tech I was with did the first one, showing me his techniques for positioning, and I positioned the patient for views of the other shoulder. Unfortunately, I couldn't comp this time because I have to do at least one exam with supervision before I can actually comp on it, but I'll be ready next time.

1 comment:

Mary said...

I've only had to x-ray 1 HIV patient that I've known about. Even though it was only a few weeks ago, I can't remember what I did, and if they were male or female. Bad memory...

I'm much more 'scared' of all of our MRSA and C-dif patients. Both of those really scare me...

WTG on the shoulder! I still have a little trouble with the Y-view sometimes. Certian body types really cause me trouble with that (always big, bulky men).

keep up the good work! (thanks for commenting :)