When I was an intern last year, I spent a month rotating on the transplant service. We do about 3-4 kidney transplants a week, so taking care of them became relatively routine. A good portion of our patients who needed transplants had renal failure from diabetes, which is basically uncontrolled blood sugars.
So I had the pleasure of taking care of one such patient near the end of my transplant rotation. She had been given the gift of a kidney, and with proper care she might be able to avoid going back on dialysis for 10, 12 years. A precious gift, which she clearly didn't care about...
I get a page the morning of her second day in the hospital. which was less that 48 hours previously she had gotten the kidney. The kidney was working great, which was why I was so surprised about the page. Our nurses document everything in the computer, and her documentation reads as follows:
"Patient caught eating donuts in room. She apologized when blood glucose was found to be 403 [very hight!]. 12 units of Lispro given, patient thoroughly lectured, Dr. *** informed. Will continue to monitor. Donuts confiscated."
Mind blowing. We couldn't have found a better home for this kidney?
