Oh, my aching back!
Oh my aching back…neck…shoulder…elbow…wrist…!
I was born too soon. Yeah, I am one of the dinosaurs. I started scanning before color Doppler (gasp!) My first job was in a Radiology department – doing echocardiograms – I only had an M-mode machine (with an A-mode screen on it). The patients were placed on a wooden legged exam table and some thoughtful tech who preceded me had fashioned a thick foam cushion mattress with a scooped out section to place on top of the table. Of course, every time the patient got up the mattress flipped over, so I tossed the sucker – the mattress, not the patient.
I scanned left handed for 6 years, ignoring the fact that my hand kept going numb. Finally, I decided to see a doctor. He kept quizzing me about my hobbies at home. He was certain that since I was of the female persuasion that I must knit, or crochet, or sew…or something domestic that would cause these symptoms because he was sure that it couldn’t possibly be scanning. How ridiculous! Little did he know that my idea of domestic behavior is dialing for pizza delivery.
So I decided to teach myself to scan right handed; that would solve all my problems! And it did for a while….until I got bursitis in my right shoulder. Every doctor had to find another explanation…until the day I got an orthopedic doc who had been my patient!
I had performed his echocardiogram on a tall stretcher – he was about 6’2” & 250 lbs. and I am 5’3” tall and never you mind how many pounds. I was up on my tippy-toes reaching over him (scanning right handed).Tthe room was set up this way so that the attending cardiologist could come in and scan afterward – Doctor. My-back-always-hurts-it’s-part-of-the-job-get-over-it.
A few months later I was referred to this same ortho doc and he pointed at me and said “Well, I don’t have to guess how this happened. I remember you pushing that thing into my chest and wondering which would give out first, your hand or my rib cage.” VINDICATION WAS MINE! Sure it was….sure it was….
Enough of that sad story, I just want to be like every other boomer out there, so here is my short rant.
These kids today don’t know how good they have it! They actually teach ergonomics at most of the ultrasound schools and seminars now. Sacrilege! They should have to suffer like we did. It builds character, you know, not to mention scar tissue.
posted by Debra at 10:25 AM
1 Comments:
Born too soon?...NOT. Sure, you have trouble with your back, your neck, your vision, shoulder pain, elbow pain and carpel tunnel repair...but just consider what you've seen and done throughout your career! Yeah, my body's worn out from scanning too, but when I sit back and think of what this profession was like when we started compared to what it is now, well...I'm proud of contributing to a career I love and knowing that I had a part in making echo what it is today. I feel blessed to be the first to do Dobutamine SE (no pump..we counted drips) and upright bike SE...and to know that "I was there" when digital echo was something located only in our lab. I'm also glad that I, like you,started out with only m-mode (we know about the B-bump :) )
The wonderful thing is that opportunities to make a difference in this profession are still there for all of us, no matter where we work. Remember the heart valve damage that was done by Phen-Fen. Well, it was a sonographer in a small lab who first noticed that the patients she scanned who had this particular abnormal aortic valve had something in common. They all took the same diet drug.
All of us just need to be open to whatever opportunity presents itself, and then be willing to do what it takes to get the job done.
Just remember to position yourself in an ergometrically correct position if the opportunity involves scanning!
10:11 AM
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