Author: Foot Doc
Date: 5/17/2007 3:55 pm PDT
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You just won't leave it alone, cj. Unfortunately, the real problem with attempting to give advice in a venue such as this, where only the exact words one uses counts, one must be taken at his/her word and not what the one might have meant by them or should have said. I have thrown NOTHING back at you that you did not say in writing in clear English in your comment. The questioner was seeking advice about her post-operative swelling, any you replied . .
"The swelling around the ankle is just the blood and fluids that are migrating due to gravity from the surgical site.
This is especially so because your are keeping the foot elevated at times."
The fact is that post-operative/post-traumatic swelling is a natural occurring and necessary physiologic function, and it does not occur due to the reasons you offered. But, no matter how much you wish to now nuance and explain your statement, you CLEARLY associated the swelling with the very thing that the patient should have been doing AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE to MINIMIZE it. THAT is trauma management 101. Injure an extremity . . ELEVATE IT!
Contrary to your assertion, patients can NOT generally make appropriate characterizations of a medical or surgical procedure, as they can relate only their solitary experience. Particularly as a nurse, you should appreciate the fact that rarely if ever are too cases the same. In the example you offered, some women have quick, uneventful and relatively pain-free deliveries of children and some have multi-hour-ed, complicated and acutely painful ones. In fact, the same woman can have one of each at the conclusion of subsequent pregnancies. So, while doctors who perform procedures on many different patients over many years see a great variety of reactions and results, patients are fixated and necessarily limited to their generally one experience. This does NOT make for reliable commentary to a patient experiencing even the same procedure as you might have undergone. Besides, you've gone on to talk both sides of the street on this issue . . as when you asserted that your experience comes from your professional career in treating OTHER patients. But YOUR career is not performing foot surgery and mine IS. You probably would not want to give advice on auto repair simply because you've been to Jiffy-Lube.
It is not my purpose to scold you for attempting to answer a question. It is my purpose to correct what clearly was advice which was not in the best interest of the readers . . not so much for this patient, but for the many who might think about not elevating the foot and leg after surgery in hopes of not getting the swelling of which was being complained.
I neither said that you were a fool, nor did I comment about your professional capabilities in whatever area you are educated and trained . . although I did think that your stated desire not to be in room 13, and your being "freaked out" by the nature of a common and non-threatening surgical procedure, and your considering what is almost always a relatively short non-health or life threatening out-patient procedure to be major surgery, rather odd for a person of medical science.
Finally, there are certain moral responsibilities which one should assume when making comments in forums such as this where the often frustrated, concerned and sometimes scared questioners might and probably will act on ones words. To that end, rarely should a statement be made that is not properly couched in such a fashion that the reader does not assume that he or she might act on such advice independently of an attending professional and/or that such advice is tailored to his/her specific condition. This is even more of a requirement for someone who practices within the medical profession.
I have had my say and you have had yours. I call upon you to put this matter to rest.
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