I've been to the hospital more times in the last 3 months than my entire life combined: from spending hours - to spending nights - to spending full days. In these couple of months, I have seen, interacted and heard more doctor-slang than any other 'language'. So much that I can literally make a full diagnosis on a sick patient, having spent not a second in a medical class.
When a patient is admitted, doctors come in and out. Depending on what your lab results show, the corresponding doctor comes to introduce him or herself and tells you what is happening with you and how they plan to proceed with treatment. But before that, the nurse on duty usually tells you which doctor will be coming, so the patient prepares to meet them. Now that is what causes problems, for me at least, is THE EXPECTATION. 😩
So it was my old man who was on admission. After a few days under admission, we were informed the dietitian would be coming around. After a few hours she comes in and says to my dad "Mr. Ellis, do you know who I am". She caught my attention with those words - very dramatic, right? My dad responds "You are the dietitian". Then she replies "Yes! do you know why I'm here?". Now I'm getting a little frustrated and thinking "Masa! what is this? A pop quiz for a dying man in a wheel chair?". My dad responds "I don't know". I guess he was getting slightly irritated himself. So in the process of telling my dad what to eat and what not to, she says "You can eat eggs, but just eat the white part and give the yolk to him". By him, she meant ME. I said to her "Oh yeah? So I can get sick and come here for you to tell me not to eat yolks, right?". She cracks a smile and moves on. At that point I knew it was going to be a long couple of days there.
After a few hours, we were informed another doctor would come around. Something like the prostate doctor if I heard it correctly. After several hours of waiting, someone knocks, opens the door and steps in. Soon as she stepped in, my dad and I looked at each other. Even though we didn't utter any words, I know we both thought "DAMN". This young doctor was about 400 Lbs. That's about 180 kg. That is a LOT of weight y'all. I know a doctor is supposed to inspire confidence in a patient but this doctor clearly did not. She rather scared the heck out of us. My dad and I looked at each other like "Crap, we've got to get the hell out of here". She proceeds to kick me out of the room after telling my dad to pull his pants down. "Wait! you get to see that and I can't? Why?" I thought. That's a story for another day.
Anyway, I thought to myself "Are patients less likely to trust doctors who are obese?" It seems like an unreasonable thought but it's a valid concern because you expect people in other careers to match what they are selling: dentists to have good teeth, dermatologists to have nice skin, gym-trainers to have good physique - and so on. With that reasoning, shouldn’t doctors be the perfect picture of health in areas of medicine that they can control? I’m not talking about doctors being sick with a cold or having asthma; but doctors who make lifestyle choices that are clearly not healthy. The easiest one to spot is obesity. Would you really listen to someone who tells you to lose weight if he or she can’t seem to do the same even for health reasons?
What put the melting-icing on the crumbling-cake was this nurse who came around in the nights. She was the most discombobulated nurse I had ever seen. She would have a list of medicine and drips to administer but always forgot which one she had given and hadn't given. "Do you remember if I have given him this?" or "Do you think we should give him that?", She asks me. I became the shot-caller/doctor-on-duty anytime she was on night-shift. She would give him a drip and then later ask what drip she had given him. Like that wasn't bad enough, that was the most critical stage of my dad's condition. At that point we knew we had to leave this place. They had no idea what the hell they were doing.
Bags got packed and we were OUT !! ✋ ...........Thank God the old man is doing a lot better now in his new place.
Saying meeting the doctors went left is an understatement. SMH
Thanks for reading y'all......Peaceee ✌
A doctor should inspire confidence. Your appearance is part of that too.
This is definitely not a good look. Doctor or otherwise
That look on your face when the doctor walks in and she is 100 pounds overweight. Damn!
My face when the nurse asked "Do you remember if I have given him this?"
My dad and I looked at each other like this...."Crap, we've got to get the hell out of here"
Was around these doctors for so long I knew all these conversions off-head
You might be the best doctor in the world but trust you'll lose patients when you look like you carry extra buttons because your big belly keeps ripping your shirt off.
