Who is Dr. Mike?

Dr. Mike is a Family Medicine Doctor. He’s Russian-American. Dr. Mike’s purpose is to educate young audiences with medical accuracy! He’s an inspiration to me! He also makes learning medical knowledge fun through talking about things our Gen understands, e.g. shows/memes etc..

The Flare in the Air

Dr. Mikhail Varshavski a.k.a Dr. Mike was on a flight to Israel to visit a non profit called “America’s Voices.” Mike says, “The  flight was quite eventful.” Not even two hours into the flight from NYC to Israel and somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, the Cabin Crew made an announcement. “Is there a Medical Professional On Board?.” Mike  got up and offered to help. When he approached the scene, he met a young man named Matt who had swelling on his hands. Dr. Mike quickly noticed that hives were present on Matt’s hands and this had to do with an allergic reaction of some kind. Matt  stated he had an allergic reaction the night prior but it wasn’t that serious. He took some Benadryl and it went away. Dr. Mike asked if he still had some medication on him and he thankfully did! He had a steroid called Prednisone and  he also had Benadryl. Mike instructed him to take another dose of both medications and let him know if anything happens to his mouth and throat, as that can be a sign of anaphylaxis which means having swelling of the upper airways. Why is this a bad thing you may ask? Well anaphylaxis can quickly, and I mean quickly, lead to death. Dr. Mike was panicking.

Tick-Tock Doc

Based on talking with Matt and hearing his history, Dr. Mike determined that apparently Matt was eating a significant amount of red meat the night prior. Why is this interesting?  Well, he normally does not eat red meat. Now Mike was slowly starting  to piece everything together to understand why this was happening. He then asked the patient one last question: “Were you bitten by a tick recently?.” Now you’re probably thinking that’s the stupidest thing to ask. Why did Dr. Mike ask this? Well, first off, it isn’t really a stupid question. If you’re bitten by this specific type of tick, called the Lone Star Tick, you can develop an allergy to red meat, specifically to alpha-gal.  What is alpha-gal you may ask?  Well it is a sugar molecule that’s found in some mammals, but not people. And once you’re bitten by this tick, if you eat any animal product that has alpha-gal in it, you can have a delayed allergic reaction. Which is  the reason why Matt was having an allergic reaction when he ate red meat. Not such a stupid question to ask now huh?

Act Fast!

Dr. Mike was thinking  off the things he may need to do if worst case scenario hits! He says he might need to give Epinephrine if not that than a Epi-Pen. But if that doesn’t work They may need to schedule a landing. And if the swelling continues to get worse even after all this. Dr. Mike might need to be forced to make a incision in this young mans throat. Mike says, “I started panicking.” Now he was thinking of resources/tools to use if a worse case scenario happens. What he can use for an incision etc. He had to be creative here there were limited options! Now later on in the flight, the flight attendant told Dr. Mike that Matt’s Condition was getting worse! His throat started swelling up! Mike went into full medical mode and rushed Matt away from the passengers and in front of the cockpit for privacy and to not worry the other flyers. Now he had to inject the Epi-Pen in Matt’s thigh area; however, when Dr. Mike opened the kit. He was shocked because on the outside of the kit it said Epinephrine. But there were no Epi-Pens! You may be thinking what’s the big deal? You have Epinephrine you can use it like a Epi-Pen. Well yes and no while it is the same active ingredient the dosages are different. Now during an Anaphylactic reaction in Matt’s case you’d typically use .3 Milligrams with a Epi-Pen. However Delta had an Epinephrine Injection Kit For Cardiac Arrest. Not to mention how the dosage is higher than 1 Entire Milligram. To make things worse, the needle is an inch and a half long!

Destination Of Destiny

Dr. Mike knew this was going to hurt. He injected  Matt and as expected Matt screamed from the pain. Now necessarily Epinephrine works by Vasal Constriction. It makes the arteries clamp down. Which makes your blood pressure rise. And allows the person to live. And necessarily if its given in the area Matt was injected in there was no doubt he’d be in serious pain. Now after the situation was contained, Dr. Mike explained to Matt what was going on he gave him some ice. And let Matt walk around for a bit. He was stable. Now the Pilot and Cabin Crew ask Dr. Mike if they should land. Dr. Mike said ask ground control what their policy is for an emergency landing. They said if the situation is stable we can move on. However if he’s unstable we should land. Now Dr. Mike decided to not land but check Matt’s vitals and blood pressure every few minutes until they land. Matt ended up being fine in the end he survived. All thanks to doctor Mike!