Martín tiene dolor de cabeza persistente.
Medical Spanish for healthcare providers: dialogue 50 (Martin has a persistent headache.)
pheochromocytoma - feocromocitoma
Mamá: ¡Por favor doctora ayúdeme! Martín se queja de mucho dolor de cabeza desde esta mañana y no para de llorar. Le dí tratamiento en dos oportunidades, pero no parece funcionar.
(Please doctor, help me! Martin has a severe headache today and won't stop crying. [Literally, "complains of a lot of headache since this morning and does not stop crying."] I gave him medicine twice and it's not working. [Literally, "I gave him treatment in two opportunities, but it does not seem to work."]) Note: Literally, "dolor de cabeza" means "pain of head."
Doctora: ¿Ha tenido dolor de cabeza otras veces? ¿Tiene alguna enfermedad?
(Has he had a headache at other times? Does he have some illness?)
Mamá: No tiene ninguna enfermedad. Hace como un año que los dolores de cabeza empezaron. Algunas veces se le aceleraba el corazón, y otras veces le daban con un poco de mareo.
(He does not have any illness. It was about a year ago that the headaches began. Sometimes his heart was racing [accelerating] and other times he was getting a bit dizzy.) Note: Remember that double negatives are normal in Spanish. Also, literally it says, "it makes about a year." Later, it literally says, "it was accelerating to him the heart, and other times, they were giving him a bit of dizziness." Idiomatic expressions with "dar" (to give), are very common.
Doctora: ¿Qué le dió de tratamiento?
(What did you give to him as treatment?)
Mamá: Inicialmente sólo acetaminofén, porque siempre se le quitaban con eso. Hoy, también tuve que darle ibuprofeno, pero no sirvió.
(Initially, only acetaminophen, because always they were going away with that. Today, I also had to give him ibuprofen, but it did not work.)
Doctora: ¿Tuvo algún otro síntoma con el dolor de cabeza?
(Did he have any other symptom with the headache?)
Mamá: Sí, hoy tuvo dolor abdominal, vomitó dos veces, está sudando, y parece estar atontado.
(Yes, today he had abdominal pain, vomited two times, is sweating, and seams to be confused.)
Doctora: La presión arterial está demasiado elevada. Le pondré tratamiento de inmediato para bajarla. Le haremos un electrocardiograma y exámenes de orina y sangre, para averiguar la causa del problema.
(The blood [arterial] pressure is too high [elevated]. I will treat him immediately to lower it. We will do an electrocardiogram and blood and urine tests to find out the cause of the problem.)
Later on that day...
Mamá: Doctora, dígame la verdad. ¿Mi hijo tiene algo malo?
(Doctor, tell me the truth. Does my son have something bad?)
Doctora: Todavía no puedo darle un diagnóstico definitivo. Los exámenes indican que las catecolaminas están elevadas, sugiriendo que haya un problema en el órgano donde se produce adrenalina. Voy a pedirle una tomografía abdominal para confirmarlo.
(I cannot yet give him a definitive diagnosis. The tests indicate that the catecholamines are elevated, suggesting (that there be) a problem in the organ where adrenalin is produced. I am going to request an abdominal CT scan to confirm it.)
Mamá: ¿A qué tipo de problema se refiere doctora?
(What might it be, doctor? [Literally, "To what type of problem do you refer, doctor?])
Doctor: A un tumor conocido como feocromocitoma, que deberá ser operado para eliminar los síntomas que tiene su hijo.
(A tumor known as pheochromocytoma, that will need to be operated on to eliminate the symptoms that your son has.)
Aviso: Esta página no es para proveer consejos médicos o información médica, sino sólo para ayudar a las personas a comunicarse en español. Si tiene algún problema de salud, consulte a su médico.
Notice: This page is not for providing medical advice or medical information, but only for helping people to communicate in Spanish. If you have a health problem, consult your doctor.