Posted July 25, 2012 in Beauty, Blog, General Medical Information, Uncategorized
“Is there a doctor, nurse, or EMC on board this flight, we have an emergency, please press your call button to let a stewardess know?”, after seeing at least two very pregnant women walk by during boarding the flight home from Newark Liberty Airport, was not exactly what a well rested Dr. Persky expected to hear on the way back home to Los Angeles twenty minutes into the trans-continental flight. My wife and I were sitting in the front of the aircraft, our girls were sitting separately further back in the plane (on the other side of “the curtain”). Unfortunately, too many times in our medico-legally dominated society, as they say, “No good deed goes unpunished!” While I was hoping that an Ob-Gyn, internist, or even an orthopedic surgeon was already there at the rescue, I glanced at my knowing wife, slowly raised my arm, pushed the Call button, closed down “The Innocents” by Francesca Segal on Kindle, and began desperately trying to remember how we delivered those 20 or so babies at Emory University Medical School back when. Knowing that my most impressionable girls would be expecting me to come to the rescue at any moment, I knew that I had to volunteer to be a Good Samaritan.
The American Airlines stewardess approached, I unbuckled my seat belt as she said, “Thank you, it’s okay, we have a nurse and family doctor back there”. Whew, just as I was getting ready to ask my wife to boil up the water, find a piece of string or shoe lace, find a scissors or knife (not so easy a task since 9/11), and gather some clean towels, a last minute reprieve. Relieved to get back to relaxation and the Kindle, just 3 minutes had passed when the same stewardess returned and asked if per chance I had my medical credentials. Apparently the other physician as well as the nurse did not have their credentials or medical license (watching 10 years of Grey’s Anatomy or George Clooney on ER does not earn medical credentialing). I was led back to our patient who fortunately was not one of the many pregnant women on the plane!
Our patient was a teenager traveling with her mother. Her mother saw her pass out, which she had done many times before from low blood sugar, but for the first time Mom thought that she witnessed a slight, short lasting seizure. When I arrived the patient was in the restroom, nauseated, and having just thrown up (used the lay term here, vomiting is just not a very aesthetic word). American Airlines was in touch with the closest medical facility in their network on the ground. I communicated her history, symptoms, vital signs, and physical exam to the ground medical personnel. The patient’s neurologic exam was normal, and her abdomen was not tender. She did not feel hot. I concluded that we did not have to make an emergency landing . I asked that she “keep her seat in the reclined position until landing”, that she take small sips of water or ginger ale, and told her mother to have the stewardess notify me if there were any changes. Of course, they would need to call their physician or go to an emergency room when we landed. Checking on her an hour later, the slice of Pepperoni pizza that she was downing told me that she was “going to make it!” It wasn’t a “Botox Emergency” for the facial plastic surgeon, but one of the most rewarding aspects of being a physician is being able to help others when needed.
Both Dr. Sunder and I consider ourselves physicians first, then facial plastic surgeons. I have been extremely impressed with not only Dr. Sunder’s facial plastic surgical skills and results, but also with her medical knowledge as a physician. She has diagnosed diverse medical conditions from myasthenia gravis, to thyroid imbalance, to previously undiagnosed hypertension during the course of her pre-surgical work-ups. When patients choose our practice for beauty, we will not only do our best to help them achieve and maintain their aesthetic goals, but we will also always “be a physician first” and insure their medical well being.
It’s good to be back home after some swimming in a very clear ocean, sailing, reading, exploring an island, good meals with great friends and family, NYC shopping, museums, and shows. Soon it is off to New Jersey again as Dr. Persky will be visiting Barry DiBarnardo, MD next week to be trained by the world’s Cellulaze expert. Dr. DiBarnardo performed most of the clinical research studies for Cellulaze. Cellulaze is the first treatment for cellulite that is effective after a single minimally invasive treatment. 90% of women are still happy with the results 3 years after Cellulaze treatment.
Dr. Persky will be taking his medical school obstetrics textbook along with his Kindle on this trip, just in case! Be well, especially if you are on our flights to or from Newark!
Dr. Michael Persky and Dr. Sarmela Sunder are located in Encino, California and Beverly Hills, California (The Lasky Clinic) but service all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and more. Please subscribe to our blog by clicking the link above, right. Thank you!
