amanda in fairhaven, mass. recently took her sister-in-law in for an ultrasound appointment, and she was a little frightened by this sign. (it was posted in three places inside and outside the restroom.)
related: bun — er, pizza in the oven
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100 responses so far ↓
#1
anglophile
Excellent bedside manners. They really know what it takes to make a patient feel calm and in competent hands. Especially with the three !!!
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:27 pm rating: +1
#2
morpho aurora
before, during or after?
i hope they don’t have to tell someone not to empty during – then again after reading some of the notes here…
isn’t an ultrasound the one done using that gel stuff? ’cause if you rub cold jelly on someone’s stomach they may not have a choice about that bladder thing
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:30 pm rating: +6
#3
bamBAM!!
Can I empty my gall bladder, or no??
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:30 pm rating: +1
#4
bamBAM!!
What about those bladders that Lance keeps in his backpack so he can just sip a tube instead of hassling with a water bottle?
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:32 pm rating: 0
#5
Canthz_B
Is this a GYN or a Urologist?
turns back and checks the nameplate on the door…
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:34 pm rating: +1
#6
bamBAM!!
If it means you, implying the person reading the sign, why must they include, “if you are having an ultrasound?” I’m not having one, but it means me, and I have to pee.
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:38 pm rating: +2
#7
tanyetta
LOL
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:42 pm rating: +1
#8
Canthz_B
What?! They told me to come here because I’m having a baby…wtf is an ultrasound???!!!
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:44 pm rating: +2
#9
Canthz_B
“I read your sign, and I get your point.
Now, if you could get the point of my baby’s elbow off of my bladder I would be much obliged!”
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:48 pm rating: +3
#10
Crash
So if the person behind me in line, is now infront of me in line…the note is telling them, right ?
Which means I can go…
Mar 23, 2008 at 11:09 pm rating: 0
#11
Canthz_B
We do allow the half-pee, however.
Just don’t empty your bladder.
Mar 23, 2008 at 11:19 pm rating: +2
#12
Crash
God…could you imagine a long wait at a doctors office for an ultrasound and having to hold it the whole time…
Makes me appreciate pregnant women a little more…
Mar 23, 2008 at 11:24 pm rating: +2
#13
Canthz_B
Of all of the people to piss off (excuse the pun) why choose pregnant women?
Did someone miss the safety seminar?
Mar 23, 2008 at 11:31 pm rating: +2
#14
Nathaniel
You can’t pee before getting ultrasound? Or am I completely not understanding this note?
Mar 23, 2008 at 11:38 pm rating: 0
#15
bamBAM!!
Advice to future note-posters: Don’t use caps lock or times new roman. Please, try comic sans ms, at least, or Arial??
Mar 23, 2008 at 11:40 pm rating: 0
#16
Canthz_B
“DO NOT EMPTY YOUR BLADDER”…What?…Never again?…
Mar 24, 2008 at 1:10 am rating: 0
#17
RALPHY
No, not ever again. Just until your eyeballs start floating and piss starts coming out of your ears, then we’ll do the ultrasound and push a lot on your tummy. Take 3 midols and a shot of crack before coming in please.
Mar 24, 2008 at 6:51 am rating: 0
#18
leelou
It also seems to me an odd usage of underlining, way more an order than a request. I mean, why not underline “please”, too?
Mar 24, 2008 at 7:02 am rating: 0
#19
claw71
Is anybody else suddenly craving haggis?
Mar 24, 2008 at 7:14 am rating: +2
#20
Andrea
You NEED a full bladder during an ultrasound so it will work properly. It bounces sound waves around in there and works better if there’s more fluid inside.
Yes, they tell you to drink lots beforehand and YES it’s excruciating having to hold it.
Mar 24, 2008 at 7:33 am rating: 0
#21
karin
brings back painful memories!! I had whooping cough which damaged my bladder as well as my lungs and then immediately got pregnant (damn antibiotics!). Anyway, I had lots of problems early on and they kept sending me for u/s at a place that also took emergencies so if my appointment that was at 10 took until noon to get around to me. I was in tears for 110 minutes. They had a sign like that too! I wanted to put up a sign of my own. It would read, “Don’t tell a pregnant woman to drink 32 oz of water and then not to pee for 2 hours.” The only pleasant thing that came out of this facility was they gave me a free 3D u/s. That was cool!
Mar 24, 2008 at 7:57 am rating: 0
#22
se
wonder why she was a “little frightened” by this sign??
Doctors, nurses, and everyone in the doctor’s office is telling these women there for an ultrasound not to pee before the ultrasound is done.
Mar 24, 2008 at 8:06 am rating: 0
#23
claw71
Yes, we understand that a full bladder improves the quality of the ultrasound. That’s all well and good.
The issue with this note is the unnecessarily rude THIS MEANS YOU!!! qualifier on the note.
This is a fine example of yet another medical facility that treats all of its patients as if they are stupid. A more professional version of this note would be posted on the restromm doors and it would breifly explain why a full bladder is necessary.
Being rude to pregnant women is a great way to get stabbed in the eye with a pen.
Mar 24, 2008 at 8:38 am rating: +5
#24
Mung Bean
Go Team Beleaguered-Ultrasound-Technician. While the tone and frequency of the signs is more than a little disturbing, I’m all in favor of full bladders during ultrasound. Better pictures, quicker examination, and no need to shove a probe god-knows-where to compensate for poor reception.
Mar 24, 2008 at 9:14 am rating: +1
#25
Paul Burani
You know… you might partner up with the person running the “Stick Figures In Peril” group on Flickr — I think you could put together some really compelling one-two punches…
Mar 24, 2008 at 9:22 am rating: 0
#26
claw71
How about a full bowel?
The nervous doctor looked at the results of the ultrasound, not as disturbed but what he was seeing but by the fact that he was going to have to break the news to the couple.
“Well,” he said with a sigh, “as you can see right here it looks like she’s about to give birth to a couple of Texans.”
This story was in spired in part by the poem, Here I sit Cheeks a-flexin’…
Mar 24, 2008 at 10:24 am rating: 0
#27
bamBAM!!
So, if you laugh while drinking, milk comes out your nose, right? If you hold piss too long, will it come out your ass?
Mar 24, 2008 at 10:34 am rating: +1
#28
mmm
TEAM MIDWIVES! The note, and other posters explanations of the rationale behind it, further emphasize the faults of all of this early routine ultrasounding. If you are one of the 80% and up preggies that are perfectly uncomplicated and unproblematic, then you don’t need this garbage anyway. See a midwife, a real professional, and not a “technician” who’s going to condescend to you because she can’t work equipment that doesn’t work on early pregnancies because it’s not designed to.
Mar 24, 2008 at 12:10 pm rating: +1
#29
Dharma
…..so lovin’ the childfree life, I am.
Can’t quite stop the instinctive shudders when women discuss the things that happen to their bodies during pregnancy, though.
Watermelon pass through the pelvis, anyone?
I think not.
Mar 25, 2008 at 7:13 pm rating: +1
#30
Responsible Blogging at its Finest (Gnarfard)
That is the just the freakiest thing
as a fellow mother I know what is like to be frightened as all heck before an operation!! :X
Oct 8, 2008 at 1:00 am rating: 0
#31
Khadijah
Well i’m abt. 6 wks along and I gotta tell you ladies that the biggest problem would be holding it, never seems to be a problem with a full bladder its always full. A half pee that is not an option.lol ugh now I have to go again.
Oct 8, 2008 at 5:19 pm rating: 0
#32
Mudhooks
Anyone who has ever had to have an ultrasound requiring a “full bladder” knows that they don’t just mean full, they mean “full to the point where a sneeze, cough, jostle, or mere thought of same will cause an explosion requiring reconstructive surgery” full…. and you arrive in sweating and rocking in pain to find a waiting room full of people who they have obviously pulled in off the street so that you KNOW you are going to have to beg them to allow you to pee….. and they will glare at you and say “only if you only pee a bit”.
Ever try to “only pee a bit” when you have had…. say…. 16 beers?
And then they do the ultrasound which entails jamming the ice-cold, goop-covered wand into your bladder and complain because you scream.
Anyone who works as an ultrasound technician should be forced to endure one of these things on a regular basis to remind them just what it is like.
Nov 11, 2008 at 7:42 pm rating: +2
#33
mummyl
The bladder has to be so full that you don’t actually enjoy the experience of seeing your baby for the first time on the screen, you just keep willing your bladder not to give up on you!
Jun 29, 2009 at 9:02 am rating: 0
#34
buggylover
Unbelievable!
Jul 29, 2009 at 12:17 pm rating: 0
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