Life and Death

I SOOOOO need a new job. Why? Because I'm not cut out for the business of "life and death". I "get in trouble" almost everyday.

I work for the most conservative doctor I (or anyone I know) has ever met. He seriously runs every test he can think of on everyone he sees. I do a lot of referrals to do CT scans and MRIs. The doctor NEVER orders contrast on these tests, meaning that he does not want the patient to have to drink barium before the tests because he says that it is dangerous.

My question is, if it is dangerous, why is it still an option?

Anyway, the diagnostic center that we usually send our patients to sent us a new form a few weeks ago. On this form, the boxes that you check for barium and no barium have been switched. Guess who didn't pay attention to that because she's always in a hurry? Guess who sent four patients over to the diagnostic center with a form that basically said, "Yeah, go ahead and give them barium and intravenous dye"? Yeah, that would be ME.

On the first three, the diagnostic center caught it, called us, and changed it. On the last one, they didn't (and neither did I). They gave the patient the barium two weeks ago.

Of course, I didn't find out today until I got the actual report of the findings. I got the report and started to review it before I gave it to the doctor. When I saw that she had been given barium, I almost threw up.

I had to tell the doctor and he promptly freaked out saying that if the patient did not pass all the barium properly, it could harden in her intestines and then they would have to do surgery to remove it. I had to put in a frantic call to the patient telling her that she would have to get another x-ray of her abdomen to make sure that the barium was all gone.

My question is, what are the chances of leftover barium?? It'll be just my luck that this is the one case in a billion that it actually happens.