Abdominal pain calls are one of my least favourite because of the huge number of different things it might be. There'* the flu, gastritis, pancreatitis, appendicitis, renal colic, abdominal aortic aneurism, PREGNANCY, cardiac and the list goes on and on... Without lab capabilities, x-ray, ultrasound, etc. it can be very difficult to differentiate between some of them.

The history taking portion of the assessment is quite in depth to try and gather as much information as possible. We often don't ask "Is there any chance you are pregnant?" because many feel that using birth control will eliminate this possibility. Instead, we ask if a person is sexually active. If they are, there is almost always a possibility of pregnancy. There have even been documented cases (although rare) in patients with a partial hysterectomy becoming pregnant. We always consider it a possibility until that preg test comes back negative. Many reproductive system questions get asked.

This was a very atypical case because the presentation just didn't fit, especially pain being limited to ONLY the right side. In nearly 14 years, I've never picked up a labour patient that didn't have pain throughout the abdomen.

I'm still shaking my head

I believe Darcy is an EMT. (whoops, already covered)

Wow, thats kinda nuts, how in the heck can someone not know they're pregnant, especially for the point Brad made above.

Whoa, WTF happened here? This thread is months old...how did it get re-dated to yesterday?

I think you need to recalibrate your time machine I only went on this call February 14, 2008. The thread is dated correctly

Whoops, OK, I get what happened. My Brother must not have checked which log-in came up. Looks like he posted twice on mine earlier.
As far as my memory, I think I got it confused with an older post of yours.

Yeesh. I'm out of it today...

beat the brother!

I totally agree with you Tracy!! Close to the end all I wanted was for the kid to stop dancing on my bladder!!!! Goodness, how on earth could her not feel the baby inside.....Or did the peeing 100 times a night not tip her off :?

In this particular case, it is her first child so she didn't really have a previous experience to tip her off. This isn't a really good explanation because you'd certianly think when she didn't feel right, especially the last few months, that she'd go to her doctor.

It may surprise you exactly how many people we pick up that are completely out of tune with their body or are in deep states of denial that something even seems wrong.

Jeezo peezo unreal. I've heard of this happening before though...some women don't show as much, and it'* possible to carry a healthy baby to full term while still having a monthly cycle.

That is interesting, but I would need to see medical reports on this...because the monthly cycle involves the shedding on the inner lining... and I don't see how that is possible and still maintain a normal pregnancy. Tubular pregnacy, yea, sure...but not a normal pregnancy. I would be interested in knowing if this is true...just no time to google it right now.