On Things That "Can't Be"

True story:

A 30 year old woman reports to A&E (or the ER) complaining of abdominal pain. She is unwed, but scandalously shacking up with her boyfriend (at a time when that was highly frowned upon). The ER doc takes a history and does a brief exam before stepping back and telling her that she's pregnant.

The woman says, "Doctor, that can't be." When the doctor assures her that it can, in fact, be. She says, "No, it can't. My boyfriend has had a little surgery, it's not possible."

The doctor frowns. Feeling that it would be quite impossible for the woman to become pregnant if her boyfriend has had a vasectomy, the doctor (assuming it's the time before HIPAA) does some searching. The doctor comes back into the room laughing and tells the woman that it was QUITE possible she was pregnant... What happened?

Her boyfriend's "little surgery" wasn't a vasectomy, it was a circumcision.

Ha!

Peace.

Health Care

I'm not normally an angry person, but sometimes I can't stand going to doctors. Yes, I'm currently on the path to become a doctor myself; I see the irony. But further, I'm a horrible patient. Not n0n-compliant, not withholding, just angry. I can't stand having to convince another person that there's something wrong with me. I know my body. I know when something isn't right. I shouldn't have to put together a sales pitch to get the care I need. I know the buzz words, I could make a great story, but I like to consider myself honest.

This is why I don't want to become a GP. I don't want to have to make the judgment call between someone who is sick and someone who is faking, someone who needs an antibiotic and one who doesn't, someone who is lying and someone is telling the truth. It's irritating. And because I'm a bleeding heart, I'd err on the side of trusting a patient for better or worse.

I know it sounds weird when a patient comes into the office and tells the doctor, "I really don't throw up... it doesn't happen to me, except it did." Or, "I've been running a fever... no 99* is really high for me, resting is normally 97.5*." And best of all, "I'm exhausted. Not normal tired... I realize I do a lot. But I can normally do much more on much less sleep." Anyone who knows me knows that I work myself to the bone and somehow manage to come out the other side quite fine. When I have to repeatedly cancel things because I'm feeling "unwell," there's something wrong.

Up next on the docket, gastroenterology and an OGD. Woot. I'll let you know how that goes.

Peace.

Kicking it Off

A brief comment on the title: I've always wanted to use a phrase that plays on the "American Werewolf in London." But I'm not so much a man-eater as that. I feel the fox is appropriate, and let's face it... Where else but Ireland are you going to be rolling in shamrocks? Maybe Notre Dame. But aside from that? Either way, it's appropriate for me.

I'll occasionally have musings about medical school -- the process, the people, the problems, the differences being in Ireland rather than the states, the mistakes I make... I tend to forget about the squeamish, so I apologize if I'm ever graphic. I frankly find the blood and guts intriguing.

Officially moving my blog from the age old xanga to blogspot may be a good time. I think I'll use it much more often. It's not as if I ALWAYS pay attention in lecture, and given the amount of time I spend in lecture any given week, I should keep this much more up to date than xanga. I won't delete the xanga until I've totally changed over though.

Peace.