Our daughter has CDA Type 2. First time or l the children’s hematology has seen it before. Stupid rare apparently. None of the labs really figured it out until the genetics came back and everyone was like, really???
TSH 326, INR > 16, lactic 23.3, K 9.6 and K 1.2 ☠️, Na 172 and Na 98 (double checked that one while picking up the phone to call neph), blood glucose 1,635, arterial pH 6.665 (was actually improved from “unreadable”), hemoglobin 3.1… Routinely see LFTs > 10,000 and CK > 60k. ANC 0.1/WBC < 1/plt 3 (same patient, thank god hgb was > 7). Trigs 986… ammonia 466 (lactulose enema anyone?), BUN 274.
Source: ICU PA. I keep a note on my phone of particularly interesting lab results, I have a friend in EM and they have a scoreboard in the lounge I’d be interested to see.
Disclaimer, in many of these cases the patient died very shortly after.
As a severe alcoholic I would eventually end up in the ER for withdrawal and they would always do a metabolic panel to test liver function. They never told me the results but I could look up the lab results and most were on the “red”. How my liver and pancreas still work is beyond me.
As a lab tech I’ve seen quite a few. The highest glucose I’ve seen was 1750, highest accurate potassium was 7.9 (rule of thumb is 8 and youre big dead, hemolyzed samples make it shoot up so it’s likely not real, but that one WAS). I learned our lactic acid analyzer only goes up to 40, that guy unfortunately didn’t live long. I’ve seen a urine sample with so many crystals I couldn’t see anything else. My most recent was an 89 year old man with what appeared to be a LOT of very healthy looking sperm in his urine sample, I was shocked at the quality and quantity of them lol
Not a medical worker but I have a mechanical mitral valve so I have to be on Warfarin for the rest of my life. Told my friend who’s a clinical pharmacist that my dose is 14 mg and he acted like it was crazy that I wasn’t bleeding out right then and there. Apparently I just eat a lot of vitamin k so I need a really high dose. My INR is normally 2.0
I recently had a hemoglobin level of 5, and I overheard my nurse telling everyone else at the nurse’s station “she went to work today!!” with a laugh. Idk if this is “extreme” but every nurse and doctor was like “no shit you’re tired all the time”
Not a medical worker but in the ICU with my son and doctor is discussing liver enzymes being high around 400 but he had a patient at 1k who ended up ok. Trade out with mom to take a shower and get text that my son was over 7k. Yeah I definitely started panicking
Not a medical worker, but I scared the shit out of some once with a blood pressure reading. Was 60/40. I was 19 and felt totally fine, but the nurse triple checked the reading before bolting out of the room and bringing the doctor (along with damn near the entire medical team of the office) in the room. Been since told I have chronically low blood pressure. 🤷♀️
A friend of mine had a glucose level of nearly 950, when the tech took the sample his face went white and said “that’s not good I need to get the doctor”. Turns out the feeling he had the last few days wasn’t the flu it was sugar accumulated in his body. For reference it’s supposed be between 75-100-ish. I’ve been in a fair few ER worthy visits and I’ve never seen a doctor have any type of reaction like that before when she came in the room.
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I’m sure it wasn’t a false positive or false negative or anything, don’t want to get sued for telling the truth or anything like that.
As a family member of the patient: I once had a family member test for an A1C of 19.2%. (ideal normal range is under 5.7%)
The staff at the hospital sounded both surprised and a bit horrified when they informed us of that result.
Once had a positive Flu Z, turns the lab tech typed it wrong. Had some real good fun with the nursing student hanging out with me that shift.
HbA1c of a family member was 13.6 and FBS was a whopping 500 mg/dl. This was in 2023 December.
Our daughter has CDA Type 2. First time or l the children’s hematology has seen it before. Stupid rare apparently. None of the labs really figured it out until the genetics came back and everyone was like, really???
TSH 326, INR > 16, lactic 23.3, K 9.6 and K 1.2 ☠️, Na 172 and Na 98 (double checked that one while picking up the phone to call neph), blood glucose 1,635, arterial pH 6.665 (was actually improved from “unreadable”), hemoglobin 3.1… Routinely see LFTs > 10,000 and CK > 60k. ANC 0.1/WBC < 1/plt 3 (same patient, thank god hgb was > 7). Trigs 986… ammonia 466 (lactulose enema anyone?), BUN 274.
Source: ICU PA. I keep a note on my phone of particularly interesting lab results, I have a friend in EM and they have a scoreboard in the lounge I’d be interested to see.
Disclaimer, in many of these cases the patient died very shortly after.
As a severe alcoholic I would eventually end up in the ER for withdrawal and they would always do a metabolic panel to test liver function. They never told me the results but I could look up the lab results and most were on the “red”. How my liver and pancreas still work is beyond me.
Just saw someone white a compensated Hb of 2.0 … so that’s my record now. They felt “a bit weak”
As a lab tech I’ve seen quite a few. The highest glucose I’ve seen was 1750, highest accurate potassium was 7.9 (rule of thumb is 8 and youre big dead, hemolyzed samples make it shoot up so it’s likely not real, but that one WAS). I learned our lactic acid analyzer only goes up to 40, that guy unfortunately didn’t live long. I’ve seen a urine sample with so many crystals I couldn’t see anything else. My most recent was an 89 year old man with what appeared to be a LOT of very healthy looking sperm in his urine sample, I was shocked at the quality and quantity of them lol
Not a medical worker but I have a mechanical mitral valve so I have to be on Warfarin for the rest of my life. Told my friend who’s a clinical pharmacist that my dose is 14 mg and he acted like it was crazy that I wasn’t bleeding out right then and there. Apparently I just eat a lot of vitamin k so I need a really high dose. My INR is normally 2.0
I recently had a hemoglobin level of 5, and I overheard my nurse telling everyone else at the nurse’s station “she went to work today!!” with a laugh. Idk if this is “extreme” but every nurse and doctor was like “no shit you’re tired all the time”
Ttp. This girl had platelets <1 per Quest. Wrapped her in bubble wrap and off to icu
INR 14 (LVAD patient, they’re all on Coumadin, the therapeutic range is 2-3)
WBC 0.1 (cancer pt with Mets everywhere)
platelets 4 (probably another cancer pt)
Source: nurse with experience with various patient populations. Currently in a med surg ICU
CPK of 250,000 in a child with a metabolic disorder.
Triglycerides of 5,335. Does it count if I’m the patient? They said they could see it in the tube before testing.
TSH of 1200 in a 9 year old. She was classically clinically hypothyroid. Good case.
Not a medical worker but in the ICU with my son and doctor is discussing liver enzymes being high around 400 but he had a patient at 1k who ended up ok. Trade out with mom to take a shower and get text that my son was over 7k. Yeah I definitely started panicking
The dude who refused a blood transfusion with a hemoglobin of 3.4 (normal is ~14 avg, usually we transfuse below 7).
Not a medical worker, but I scared the shit out of some once with a blood pressure reading. Was 60/40. I was 19 and felt totally fine, but the nurse triple checked the reading before bolting out of the room and bringing the doctor (along with damn near the entire medical team of the office) in the room. Been since told I have chronically low blood pressure. 🤷♀️
A friend of mine had a glucose level of nearly 950, when the tech took the sample his face went white and said “that’s not good I need to get the doctor”. Turns out the feeling he had the last few days wasn’t the flu it was sugar accumulated in his body. For reference it’s supposed be between 75-100-ish. I’ve been in a fair few ER worthy visits and I’ve never seen a doctor have any type of reaction like that before when she came in the room.
A sodium of 555. Yes you read it right. We looked at him. He replied “I don’t feel so good.” And dropped dead. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.
fuck everyone in this tread that thinks all of us know the acronyms of their field
Platelet <1 hemoglobin 3 and high as 24
CRP 976 after a ruptured appendix
Patient with a estimated glomerular filtration rate (think kidney function) of 18
A relatively healthy person’s function is over 90.