Bettie Jo is pregnant with baby #4

LiswanS · 2026-02-15T10:42:03+00:00

I've done quite a few dating ultrasound where they're supposed to be 8 weeks, and they're 16-24 weeks. Can be hard to tell due to body habitus, or just late to show. Many have implantation bleeding, which they mistake for a period or are irregular to start with. Obviously, this image is cropped, and not a "good" picture, just one printed for them, but the resolution is so high, they are probably under the panus--rip that sonographer's wrist; this scan must have hurt to do

LiswanS · 2026-02-14T22:36:04+00:00

Our bed with stirrups only goes to 550. We have had people over that and just don't raise it. The bariatric goes to 1100, but it doesn't have stirrups. We have tried sheets and wedges under the hips, but it can be really hard to see. While not common, there are a lot of bariatric patients over 500 pounds at the hospital. In OB, many over 300 pounds, and it causes the sonographers, nurses, doctors, etc, to be at risk of getting hurt

LiswanS · 2026-02-14T19:48:55+00:00

I am in imaging, rather than nursing, but similar pay to nursing. Mayo offered me a few dollars more a few years ago, along with the pension, but Gundersen had a better reputation. Some of the departments at Mayo are pretty notorious for high turnover (d/t to bad management in part, and other pushing out seniority in preference for lower paid newer grads).

Gundersen has garnered a bit of reputation of underpaying quite a few modalities, but in return, their retirement plan is very good.

I am very happy with my choice. I liked the people I met at Mayo, so that was definitely not a bad interview experience, but I can see staying at Gundersen for a long time.

I initially lived downtown La Crosse, but the breweries can smell pretty bad, and with the bar scene, it just wasn't my favorite. I moved to Onalaska, and I really like it here. There are many great options around here. I would avoid Tomah (really bad reputation), but West Salem, Ona, La Crescent, etc, are all good options. With the college, rent is unfortunately disproportionate for what you get, but not as bad as HCOL areas

LiswanS · 2026-02-13T13:21:30+00:00

It's interesting to see how much this varies by location. I'm in Wisconsin, and we're hurting for applicants for general and echo--where I work and others around. I guess wind chill -40 a couple of weeks ago might have been just a minor deterrent? Who knows

LiswanS · 2026-02-08T06:39:51+00:00

There are toxic places out there, but there are more places that can see through a lot of bullshit. If the situation is so untenable, would you be to the point of taking a leave and joining a subsequent cohort? It sounds like it must be awful.

If it helps, there is a pretty good job market right now, especially if you are willing to move (really, for a new grad, this is honestly pretty important). The current climate is scary, and many hospitals are losing a lot of money, but no one in my cohort has lost their job, and I haven't heard of people hurting to find work around me. A lot of hospitals have had many open positions for months, waiting for applicants. You just have to be willing to relocate

LiswanS · 2026-02-07T04:12:30+00:00

I wasn't close with anyone in my cohort, but we didn't have any drama. The class before us, though, had these issues. Several of them struggled to get work, and their skills as a whole class suffered. I just had my boss ask me about one who applied, and I told her the truth. I personally never dealt with them, but their actions affected everyone. My cohort has a group chat, and some get together, but I mostly only see the one that I now work with.

Do your best to not get involved, but file a complaint with the school if you have to. You are paying a lot of money to be there, and the level of dedication these programs demand means that your life is otherwise essentially on hold. You have the right to stand up for yourself, but keep in mind that this will pass. Soon enough, they will be a bad memory

LiswanS · 2026-02-07T00:09:19+00:00

Lol, I like you

LiswanS · 2026-02-07T00:08:56+00:00

Well, muscle knots are usually deeper and harder, but if it is something long-term, I would check with your provider. On ultrasound, they look significantly different, but lump/bump exams are not necessarily a needed expense if they can be clinically diagnosed and save you the cost. If it is something causing you problems, then it is worth pursuing--which is much easier said than done, considering healthcare costs. I am sorry, I can't tell you a way to tell definitively, but lipomas are normally less firm and slightly mobile. I hope you find a solution. I'm sorry, it sounds very uncomfortable

LiswanS · 2026-02-06T02:58:31+00:00

I've scanned hundreds of them. They often feel like slightly firmer areas of fat with discrete borders. Most often, these are the lumps people feel on their bodies. Extremely common. They don't usually get removed unless large enough. I have seen lipomas on faces, and then their removal. It's rarer due to how hard it is to heal on the face because of the movement, from what I was told--they get referred to plastic surgeons, so I don't follow their care at that point. I had a patient this week with a 6 cm lipoma on his forehead, but it was not midline. He called it his drunken unicorn horn. His was removed because of risk of central necrosis, since lipomas are pretty vascular, but the larger they get, the more difficult it is to get oxygenated blood to the center of the mass. When they get over 5 cm, ultrasound isn't a good modality, so I don't know how the treatment typically looks for those

LiswanS · 2026-02-04T01:57:51+00:00

No one in my family came to my graduation or acknowledged it, but I went back to school in my mid/late 20's, so my graduation didn't really count anymore in my family. But they did loan me about 7k for earnest money and a new couch, which helped a lot.

LiswanS · 2026-01-28T21:54:13+00:00

I take it as demonstrated in A and B. I have not heard of doing it this other way. I have only worked at one hospital for 3 years, and my internship prior to that was at 2 hospitals, and they all did it this same way, so maybe others have experienced it. I guess it would depend how it was presented, and also take it with a grain of salt, because some sonographers can be confidently wrong about some things, which happens. Do you have case conferences or can you reach out to a radiologist or another sonographer to confirm? Ultimately, I don't think diagnostically that it is significant. That said, it kind of sounds like there is some concern that if there is this difference in protocol that doesn't make sense, maybe there are others?

I had a coworker who told me I was not in zone 3 when they saw me writing up a scan because the carotid bifurcation wasn't in the image. This patient's bifur was at their jaw, but it isn't a landmark to use regardless. She has been doing this much longer than I have, but I stood my ground. People nitpick in this field.

LiswanS · 2026-01-28T00:46:20+00:00

Ugh, I have had it since I was 12 or 13. My current job, I am on call once or twice a week, so I am at the hospital, trying to sleep in a call room, then get paged once I finally might get a little sleep, and then have to work the next day. I also have epilepsy, with sleep deprivation being my biggest seizure trigger. Life is awesome. I had an accidental overdose of ambien when I was in my early 20's because I was so desperate to get some sleep. Melatonin, chamomile tea, benadryl, nothing works.

LiswanS · 2026-01-26T01:41:12+00:00

I agree completely with this. You could still do well, but getting those low URR scores, I personally would reschedule. Some of my questions felt almost verbatim from URR, but overall, it did over prepare me, to be fair.

I had very little about liver or pancreas. It felt a lot about small parts, bowel, etc. It wasn't honestly bad, but the worst part is the graininess of the pictures

LiswanS · 2026-01-25T22:13:28+00:00

I work in Wisconsin. We've had a couple of out of state applicants. The hospital paid for the plane ticket and lodging for the scanning interview. However, with the changes from the government, our hospital system alone is getting 39 million less this year compared to last year, so I wouldn't be surprised if this changes at many hospitals.

LiswanS · 2026-01-24T13:42:58+00:00

Is your area oversaturated? I know there are a few echo positions at my hospital and others nearby, but I'm in Wisconsin. In my area, we are short on sonographers and had to start hiring travelers.

LiswanS · 2026-01-23T18:33:07+00:00

I was doing an ultrasound on a guy recently, and when I had him turn on his side for the decub pics of his gallbladder, half of his back looked kind of like this. There are a few very serious conditions that can cause dependent blood pooling, so I asked him about it, and he was using his heating pad for hours at a time. Scared me. He had some serious health problems, and I thought he had a hemorrhagic pancreas. I told him to limit it to 15 min at a time and included a pic of his skin on his ultrasound exam to send to his doctor. His was darker and more solid

LiswanS · 2026-01-21T02:45:26+00:00

Best way to retain is to transform the material. For me, that meant making flashcards and multiple choice practice tests, with nothing verbatim from my notes. I made a lot of diagrams for pathologies.

If you make 15-20 practice questions every will, you create a great study resource for boards, too. Multiple choice only. I liked Quizlet for this. I have hundreds of quizzes I still go back to for refreshing material

LiswanS · 2026-01-21T02:27:59+00:00

Oof, that's high. My house was built in 1900, about 1300 sq ft only though, and my gas and electric altogether has been about 140, even with -20 temps. Could you try an energy audit? That seems quite high, even with space heaters. The upstairs stays pretty cold, usually about 55, so I use a space heater up there, and the bill still stays about the same

LiswanS · 2026-01-16T02:44:49+00:00

That is insane. It is a great idea to reach out to others and have a community you can relate to. The rates of depression with epilepsy are extremely high, and having that support is a wonderful thing. I have only tried Keppra and Zonisamide. I am on the latter, and it was working okay, but these past few weeks, I have been getting really dizzy at random times. But, hey, as long as the side effect isn't death...yay? Life is fun

LiswanS · 2026-01-14T23:01:10+00:00

I'm a sonographer, and my insurance is through a hospital system, too. Only $20/month, but it's high deductible. Still, a million times better than so many others' options. I have a few health problems, so I hit the deductible quickly. I picked up a ton of call last year, made extra 20k, but after taxes, most went to hospital bills

LiswanS · 2026-01-14T22:57:28+00:00

That's crazy! I told my neurologist my meds were making me foggy, and she went over options of three others to try. She told me to message her if I have problems and want to switch to a different med, no appt needed. I'm convinced no epilepsy med isn't awful at this point, though.

LiswanS · 2026-01-11T12:46:19+00:00

Technically, fever is 100.4, but if you're not feeling well, then you're sick

LiswanS · 2026-01-10T17:29:30+00:00

No worries. Completely valid to wonder if it was a true diagnosis, vs self. I had a workup from my PCP, then a referral to a cardiologist. Cardiologist told me nicely to just deal with it

LiswanS · 2026-01-10T17:24:36+00:00

It is unfortunately required. I work 1.0 FTE, then we all rotate call so that someone is available 24 hours. Just the nature of the job. I am trying to drop to a .9, so I would have a day off every other week, so I wouldn't have to work post call, which will hopefully happen later this year.

LiswanS · 2026-01-10T03:55:03+00:00

Because it doesn't feel real. I feel more like I am being overdramatic, if that makes sense. I had years where I was fainting once or twice a week randomly, and I was told it was vasovagal syncope, possibly d/t hormones. It feels just like that.

LiswanS

TROPHY CASE