Thread by @AntiWheatGirl

I had a pretty scary experience last night as a patient that I wanted to share. This story may hit home for #allergy #foodallergy #celiac friends and I hope will be enlightening for my #medtwitter #medstudenttwitter friends! 1/

So my family ordered takeout from a restaurant that I’ve eaten safely at dozens of times in the past. Unfortunately 2 bites into my food, I started to feel nauseous and my lips start tingling.

For anyone with food allergies, you know that’s the start of something bad. 2/

That uncomfortable feeling progressed into full blown anaphylaxis very quickly.

Ive made it 28 yrs, never had to use my EpiPen before & I made the huge mistake of not having it with me. I am INCREDIBLY thankful that my partner keeps one for me at all times just in case. 3/

People w/ allergies are taught how to use the EpiPen when we’re diagnosed and taught to use it early in a reaction.

But I was really scared.

I couldn’t get over the thought of stabbing myself and the worry that my reaction had escalated to a level where I had to. 4/

But now speaking from experience, for anyone else who struggles with the thought of using the EpiPen for themselves or their child, I’m here to say IT DOESNT HURT and it works like MAGIC. 5/

It wasn’t even like a pinprick. Just some pressure while I held it in place for 10 seconds and done! I could breathe better within minutes and it gave me some peace of mind that things hopefully wouldn’t escalate further on the way to the hospital. 6/

Have you ever had to use an EpiPen? Were/are you scared? 7/

1 EpiPen injection later and I’m on the way to the hospital.

I was feeling a little better already but i knew the right thing to do was to go and be observed to make sure the symptoms don’t come back. 8/

I was taken back very quickly and triaged and sent right into a room.

When you’re a patient, do you tell people you work in medicine? 9/

My dad and I are both doctors and didn’t say anything which made this experience sort of feel like I was an undercover spy. 10/

The first thing I noticed, was that everyone uses SO MUCH medical jargon.

No one really confirmed that I was understanding what they were giving me or why. I highly doubt that I would have understood most of what happened to me last night if I wasn’t in medicine. 11/

I’ve been thinking back to my interactions with patients and I’m SURE I’ve done that too!

When we’re under a time crunch or stressed, we definitely revert to language that is easiest for us. 12/

But another experience as a patient has reminded me once again how complex medicine is.

The words we use are not part of the average person’s vocabulary and we silo ourselves in medicine to such a degree that we forget! 13/

And this is not to knock down the team that took care of me last night. They did a wonderful job and were so kind.

It’s just a reminder to myself and others that our patients, for the most part, don’t have the same background as us. 14/

My experiences as a patient with chronic illnesses have shaped who I am as a physician but even as #DocsWithDisabilities we need the same reminders when we’re caught up in the stress of our jobs. 15/

Maybe we should all practice taking a minute to explain. Find a patient and explain how the steroids are going to help, or what things you’re looking for when you say you want to observe a them for a few hours.

A few simple words can go a long way to put a patient at ease! 16/

TLDR; Long story short, remember to always consider your patient and their understanding AND ALWAYS CARRY AN EPIPEN 17/17