Medical Second Opinions

[Maximus]

I don't know the names. It is apparently fairly common in cat bites because it goes so deep and because of the bacteria present in their mouths. It wasn't a big wound, I had seven punctures between the knuckles of my thumb, but they went to the bone. The infection settled in the joints at the base of my thumb and in the wrist.

[DGuller]

What happened to the cat?

[Maximus]

nothing.

[Martinus]

Do you guys have the ability to switch GPs whenever you want?

It can be done if you switch the type of specialists your city is running or build a different great wonder.

[Lucidor]

Last March I was bitten by one of our cats who had been attacked by a stray dog. We cleaned it up and bandaged it, but after a day it was getting worse so I went into the ED. The doctor on call prescribed oral antibiotics and valium and sent me home. The next afternoon I was in so much pain I went back in. Fortunately there was a different doctor on call this time. She took one look at it and hospitalized me. I was in for 3 days on IV antibiotics and morphine and narrowly missed needing surgery and possible amputation. Even as it was, there was enough damage done that I have nearly no grip in that hand when it rains.

What in the heck did you get infected with?

Pasteurella Multicida, or P. Canis?

This is pretty common in hand bites. If the cat manages to hit the joint or the sheath for the tendons, you get a nasty infection. The most common algorithm is:
1) Clean the would, most doctors prescribe a course of Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. WTF with the Valium?!?
2) If infection seems to spread to the joint or the tendon, patient comes back. Operating room, irrigating the wound, i.v. antibiotics.

[Razgovory]

I got a cat bite in the hand this year.  Hurt like hell, and kept hurting for several days.  Anti-biotics cleared it up but it took a while.

[Iormlund]

It's not Bell's Palsy but has similar symptoms. Can't remember the name of it, it a syndrome of some kind.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome? That's the one caused by the chicken pox virus, basically shingles of the ear.

Heh, I remember that one from ER.

[Brezel]

Wouldn't half of face paralyzing/impairment of speech suggest stroke?  I'd rush for help.

[Neil]

Wouldn't half of face paralyzing/impairment of speech suggest stroke?  I'd rush for help.

There are generally other symptoms of a stroke.

[Alatriste]

Do you guys have the ability to switch GPs whenever you want?

Yes, we can(TM) 

Actually, the question is a bit puzzling. Why shouldn't we? My assigned health center probably has 6-8 GPs working at any given time, I could switch between them easily.

[Brazen]

Do you guys have the ability to switch GPs whenever you want?

Pretty much. You tend to have a personal GP at the practice but can chose to see a different one if he or she is not available, or if you want to see, say, a doctor of a specific sex for down below problems. It's also fairly easy to move to a new practice, but some popular ones can get their books full.

[Martinus]

Damn you and your socialized medicine GP-switching communist ways.

[CountDeMoney]

Depends on what my body tells me, not my doctor.

[Razgovory]

Do you guys have the ability to switch GPs whenever you want?

Yes, we can(TM) 

Actually, the question is a bit puzzling. Why shouldn't we? My assigned health center probably has 6-8 GPs working at any given time, I could switch between them easily.

Cause our masters in the US tell us you can't.

[MadImmortalMan]

My assigned health center probably has 6-8 GPs working at any given time, I could switch between them easily.

Can you go to a different center if you want to? I didn't realize you had an assigned one.