Alison took the time to get to know her patient and asked about their life and hobbies. The patient shared his love of gardening and Alison is also very into gardening. The patient shared with Alison that the last time he juiced a squash from his garden, it had a horrible, bitter taste. Alison heard this and went to the doctor to share information about the patient’s condition.

Alison had recently listened to a gardening podcast where they talked about a rare, but serious condition called cucurbit poisoning or “toxic squash syndrome” that can happen when domestic vegetables accidentally cross-pollinate with wild and poisonous versions. The patient had nearly every symptom they listed in the podcast. Alison felt she might be on to something when the patient mentioned the bitter taste of squash juice, as the podcast had warned these toxic vegetables had an extremely bitter taste and even a little could be deadly. She brought all of this information to the care team who began to explore this as a possibility.

It was determined that the patient had gotten so very sick from the squash out of his garden. If Alison had not followed her gut and brought her concerns to the doctors, the patient and his family may have gotten sick again. The patient was so grateful that Alison was his nurse that day!