I went to draw this older lady who has a C. diff at that time. Went to her room, and immediately, she told me that I stink. Her words were “Eeeeww, you stink!!!”
In my mind, WTF?! I could not believe she had the nerve to say that I stink—she’s the one who has the C. diff and the room just reeked with her C. diff stool!
Trying to control myself, I told the patient “sorry that I stink”. I then smelled both of my armpits just to show that I wasn’t aware that I stink.
The whole time I was drawing her blood, she was just covering her nose with the blanket. She was mumbling, and kept repeating herself that I stink.
When I got back to the lab, I had to ask everyone to smell me. They all said I smelled just fine.
Could it be that the patient was just using the reverse defense mechanism so she would not feel embarrassed that she stinks? Or was she just used to her own smell that when I came in, smelling better than a C. diff stool, she thought I stink? I’ll never know. But it was a weirdly funny experience.
Submitted by:
Sarah Brown
Phlebotomist
Utah, USA
Perhaps she was senile?