General Discussion

... hence, the verbal confirmation. I've been in the hospital twice in past two years, and they don't even take your vitals without checking your wristband AND asking your birthdate every.single.time. just to avoid mistakes. Sad to say, mixups HAVE happened, so an abundance of caution is not misplaced. You don't want to end up like the woman who was supposed to have her cancerous eye removed, and the surgeon removed the wrong eye. Several years ago a surgeon introduced the idea of marking up the patients with Magic Markers while they were still conscious and coherent -- "cut here", "leave vein intact", etc. -- so that there won't be a mixup between the time the first anesthetic is injected and the actual cutting begins.