A guy noticed as he was finishing up his fish taco that everytime he swallowed he could feel a little fish bone in the back of his throat.
I looked back there but everything seemed normal. ”It’s right here,” he said pointing to his right tonsil and so I put a glove on and touched the tonsil and sure enough I felt it.
Even after palpating it I still couldn’t see it. But I got a pair of alligator forceps anyways and clamped down in the general vicinity of where it seemed to be.
Unbelievably out came a tiny fish bone, shorter than a grain of rice and almost impossibly thin. There is no way anyone could have been more surprised than me, although I pretended like it was just business as usual.
The lucky moments are way more satisfying than the unlucky ones, to say the least.
September 4, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Good job!
September 4, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Good for both of you!
September 4, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I totally have a craving for a fish taco now—note how I didn’t say a fishy taco, that’s different and totally repulsive.
September 5, 2008 at 7:52 am
you are amazing.
September 5, 2008 at 10:46 am
awesome!
times like that you remember why you went into the job.
same w/ me for massage therapy–a good day relieving someone’s pain
September 6, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Great job, Dr. 10/10. I bet your patient was glad you were his doctor that time.
How were you able to touch his tonsil with your finger without him gagging?
September 7, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Sometimes it is just better to be lucky than good.
September 7, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Damn. That’s like grabbing a fly out of the air with chopsticks, Danielson.
I’ve gotten a couple of fish bones out of the back of throats in the past, but usually it is only with patients who can stand me using a laryngoscope blade on them while awake. Then I grab at the bone with either ring forceps or McGill forceps.
September 8, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Thanks Mr. Miyagi, I like to picture you in the background muttering about beginner’s luck.
September 8, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I have had similar luck just once in my career. I was however just able to see it and pulled it out with alligator forceps. That contrasts with the 100’s of times I can find nothing on exam, X-ray, or CT.
September 17, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I love ENT stories!
September 18, 2008 at 10:12 pm
[...] lot to say about alligator forceps. Doctors use them for all sorts of things, from surgeries to plucking teensy fish bones from the backs of people’s throats. American alligator (Alligator [...]