As least according to this paramedic
https://open.substack.com/pub/nicholasjorcutt/p/im-trained-to-know-when-someone-is?r=r38w4&utm_medium=ios
... It comes down to one single thing I can’t do. I cannot diagnose. I can know what is wrong. I can treat what is wrong. I can even fix what is wrong. I just cannot officially tell you what is wrong.
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Understand when I go to a call, I have to figure out what the problem is. I don’t have lab work. I don’t have X-rays and CT scanners. The most advanced tech I have is an ECG and a glucometer. Otherwise, it’s just left to me working this shit out like I’m Batman hunting down the Joker.
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Except that doesn’t explain why he has been getting a CT scan EVERY three months. A significant number of medical professionals are dead set that they are worried about his mental decline, and they are trying to make sure he still has all neurologic functions.
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I think that there is something more dangerous that his medical team is monitoring and tracking. I think that what they are monitoring closely isn’t his mental health. It is the time bomb in his belly. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is what happens when the Aorta (Main blood delivery system to the heart) starts to get a bulge in it. The side wall of the Aorta starts to push outward. It is a serious life-threatening condition.
If a AAA ruptures, which they are prone to do, then unless you are physically on an operating table under bright lights with a skilled surgeon, you can kiss your ass goodbye.
The AAA makes the CHF worse which also explains why he has the pitting edema in every extremity. Edema is what happens when there is a fluid leakage from the blood vessels and the body’s natural drain system (The Lymphatic system) isn’t able to filter out all the excess fluid from the blood.
It causes that ‘sloshy’ looking skin that if you press into, leaves an indent. When you know what you are looking for, you can spot pitting edema across the room just by the socks the person is wearing...
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