I didn’t come on here to judge what he did, although I have an opinion - I think those are still allowed on CC, as well as speculations. Look at the Bobbi Kristina thread, and the Joan Rivers thread. People wonder what happened when information being given doesn’t fit our experiences and views.
I came on here, because I was wondering if any other people carried the question around in their minds about what kind of medical situation with a finger could land someone in the ICU for ten days. And so far, I don’t think anyone has chimed in on that., other than complications, which is what my friends and I have thrown around. I know I’ve talked about it for several days with a few people, and we all seem baffled.
@lindyk8 - yes, I fully believe that. However, I think he spoke those words himself. Now perhaps it was, he was in ICU for 2-3 days, then a regular unit for another 7-8. And that would make more sense, for plenty of reasons. Also, it’s pretty rare for someone to be in an ICU, then get discharged from that unit. Usually once they are stabilized, they are transferred to a step-down unit before discharge. From my experience of being at many hospitals and ICUs, this just seems different.
I don’t think he was in Bellevue. I think he went to Bellevue and was transferred to another hospital were he had the surgery. I will go see if I can find the article I read about him.
Never mind. I had it backwards. He went to Beth Israel and then transferred to Bellevue.
I would assume he was in ICU for a very good reason.
Maybe he was in a critical care room and confused CCU with ICU. Easy to confuse. Maybe some confused degloving with meaning they should take their gloves off and swing at other posters, LOL. Easy mistake. b-(
Physician here. Regular hospital rooms do not include intensive patient monitoring. Perhaps he was kept in the ICU for monitoring of circulation to his finger. Waiting for routine nursing checks on the regular floor would not have been sufficient to catch problems and certainly there is too much else to do for that nursing staff to take time from other patients just to stop by as frequently as deemed necessary. Reminds me of the otherwise healthy young man who spent his first post op night in ICU to make sure his vascular injury that was repaired did not bleed out. Intensive means extra time spent, not necessarily life threatening, but limb threatening in his situation. If you are going to the trouble of lengthy surgery you want to make sure it succeeds post op. There are several different kinds if intensive care units- surgical ones are different than medical and cardiac ones, for example. “Critical Care” room seems to me to just be another name for intensive care.
I can’t speak to Bellevue but newer ICUs are being built without the open-cubicle type design. Our brand-new local hospital has private ICU rooms that are very hotel like, giant flat screen TVs, spa-style bathrooms, sleeper sofas, and doors to the hallway. Staff can observe patients from an adjacent space that lets them see into the room. It’s a very different experience than the stereotypical ICU.
I haven’t really followed what happened with Jimmy Fallon, but one thing I do know about is that the Seattle area public hospital-Harborview-will go above and beyond for ANY patient, even the indigent. It’s also the top trauma center for the entire PNW, unless that has changed. I know someone who used to work in the ER-at that time it was the place many patients would be transferred to, rich or poor, for extreme cases.
The other thing I wanted to share is the what may seem like not so big a deal (although nearly losing a finger is no small thing) to outsiders, it can be far worse than it seems to lay people. One of the immigrant families we work with has a grown son who ended up in intensive care-for many days-because of a zit. He had tried to squeeze it and it got infected; he ignored it and nearly lost his eyesight (it was near his eyes). The infection spread and he came close to dying. But people were all talking about why would a kid need a hospital at all, never mind the ICU, for a pimple. But this isn’t uncommon, from what I understand-seemingly minor injuries turning deadly. So I"m inclined to think that Jimmy Fallon got the treatment he NEEDED, not handed to him because of who he was.
Wis75,
Can’t some folks needing a higher level of monitoring be monitored on a telemetry floor? Note please this is a general question about some folks that may not need ICU level monitoring. Not speaking about JF here- just again making general conversation and asking a general question.
My guess is that the distinction between ICU, CCU, and a regular hospital room are completely lost on most people who aren’t either in the medical profession or highly, highly attuned to medical procedures and terminology. I would not think that the average person - and I include JF in this - is really thinking or caring about what the specific designation was, as long as he received the treatment he needed. So when he says “I spent x days in ICU” he’s just saying in his words - this was a serious condition, not a walk in the park.
“Now perhaps it was, he was in ICU for 2-3 days, then a regular unit for another 7-8. And that would make more sense, for plenty of reasons. Also, it’s pretty rare for someone to be in an ICU, then get discharged from that unit. Usually once they are stabilized, they are transferred to a step-down unit before discharge. From my experience of being at many hospitals and ICUs, this just seems different.”
I think that’s the point - you’ve been at many hospitals and ICUs. I bet for the average person who has been healthy, who doesn’t have experience in the hospital, it’s all the same thing, and when they’re moved from room 8422 to room 3753, it’s just “oh, I’m moving rooms.”
Honestly, just last month when my FIL had triple bypass surgery, there was a lot of fuss about moving him from this room to that and what was most appropriate, and it was all the same to me - to my untrained eyes, they all just looked like hospital rooms, some bigger, some smaller.
I’ll admit that my experience was more than ten years ago, but my micro surgical breast reconstruction put me in ICU for several days. My life wasn’t in danger but the intense level of minute by minute care to make sure the transplant “took” required what that hospital designed as ICU at the time. I’d bet a finger would require at least as much care.
“That’s why I suggested that perhaps they made that call, and the insurance company said no, they weren’t going to cover it, but they went ahead with the surgery, knowing either they would appeal the decision, or pay out-of-pocket. Which he (and NBC) can obviously afford to do. But for any other average Joe who walks into this hospital with this same injury, will they be provided the same options? If not, then I just think he could have spoken about this very differently on air - be even more general and not give out so much information.”
Let’s even assume that this was the case - that in the immediate moment, his wife called the ins co, they weren’t going to pay or only pay to cover $x, but he (or NBC) could afford to pay so they did. Do you think that he would necessarily mention that? Right now his immediate thoughts are about getting through the surgery, recovering fully and then publicly thanking the docs. He’s not obligated to share or highlight his own insurance / financial situation unless he wants to.
I mean, our family has had medical procedures / treatments where other docs waive the copays and accept insurance-only out of professional courtesy. But I don’t know that I would necessarily feel compelled to mention those if I were speaking in public about those procedures.
When I had my twins prematurely and had a very substantial six-figure medical bill, most was covered by insurance and the rest was waived since H was a doctor on staff at this teaching institution - a perk not available to everyone. But if I were going on TV talking about the wonders of saving premature babies, I wouldn’t be mentioning that. I’d be talking about the technology and the emotions, not the billing department.
JF is an entertainer and a pretty smart one at that. I’m sure his focus is on “how can I make this a human interest story,” not open a debate about the cost of health care and unequal access. Just my hypothesis!
I still think the ICU comment is more of a general “I was in a serious situation, this wasn’t a joke” than necessarily a specific accounting of what specific rooms he was in for what duration. I just think that distinction is both lost on and unimportant to the average person. I “know” you enough to know that you are far more attuned to medical details than the average person!!
“I bet for the average person who has been healthy, who doesn’t have experience in the hospital, it’s all the same thing, and when they’re moved from room 8422 to room 3753, it’s just “oh, I’m moving rooms.” " I still think the ICU comment is more of a general “I was in a serious situation, this wasn’t a joke” than necessarily a specific accounting of what specific rooms he was in for what duration. I just think that distinction is both lost on and unimportant to the average person. I “know” you enough to know that you are far more attuned to medical details than the average person!!”
I don’t know about that.I think most people know the difference between ICU and a regular hospital room. Most people have watched one of the many hospital dramas on TV so would know the distinction. I would bet money Jimmy Fallon knows the difference, too.
“don’t know about that.I think most people know the difference between ICU and a regular hospital room. Most people have watched one of the many hospital dramas on TV so would know the distinction.”
Dont you think " the look" of an ICU varies from hospital to hospital? I’m serious - after bypass, my FIL was in some kind of open room with a bunch of machines that went ping, and then he was in a closed room with a bunch of machines that went ping. How would I as a lay person who has spent zero time in hospitals except for my own birth and my children 's birth possibly know the difference? What would be the cues to look for?
Telemetry floors are for patients who are in the hospital for whatever reason but need cardiac monitoring specifically. There is a monitor tech at the nurse’s station whose sole purpose in life is to watch the EKGs of the patients and alert the nurse to any change in status or other cardiac rhythm concern. The nurse to patient ratios are usually smaller than for regular floors, but may not be appropriate for someone who needs frequent circulation checks.
I worked in ICU for years. I can’t speak to current practice, but re-attachment of limbs always required ICU, not because the person was deathly ill, but because nurses on regular floors have too many patients to be able to do the frequent circulation checks which are necessary to ensure a good result.