quotable quotes

Friday is clinic day for Dr. Fracture and I. We see a mix of new injuries, post operative patients and long term follow up care. It's a mix of young and old, complicated and straightforward all combined with a little whining.

Today I had the pleasure of seeing a delightful elderly patient and the patient's spouse. They clearly have been together for a long time and their conversation included love, teasing and reminding each other of forgotten details.

I checked the patient's X-ray and pronounced the fracture to be "doing well." The patient noted that indeed, the fracture was feeling pretty good, but that there were several other aches and pains causing trouble.

My patient registered a look of shock when I explained that these aches were common as the body ages.

I suggested that they might consider calling the primary care doctor to find out what could be done to relieve the symptoms. (We don't manage these types of common aches and pains...surgery just doesn't fix everything.)

Well, our patient's hearing wasn't perfect so the spouse had to repeat what I said.

The spouse spoke loudly and said, "She said our Doctor could try some MORE THINGS to help with your pain!"

The patient replied, "MORPHINE? I don't know that I need that. Seems kind of strong!"

"Naw, she said MORE THINGS!" Said the spouse.

"OH, I thought morphine was a bit much...I've had enough of that."

Well, we set the record straight and the cute little couple left to make an appointment with their family doctor. He was carrying her purse, looking dapper in his hat and smiling.

Some days its not just the satisfaction of seeing bones heal that make the job satisfying.

The Power of Positive Thinking...

I remember as a kid finding the occasional copy of Guideposts magazine around our house. I would read them because the stories were positive, easy to understand and short. I also remember hearing about the link between The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale and Guideposts.

It's been several years since I've read a copy of Guideposts, but I was reminded of it today. I was at work in the clinic and saw an adorable. elderly, hard-of-hearing patient. When I asked her how she was (I asked loudly), she replied with a smile plastered across her face "Norman Vincent Peale!!".

My assessment at the end of the appointment was that she's doing quite well, thank you very much!

Musings about work...desire, drive, committment

I work in the medical field when I'm not figuring about how to be a good mother and role model. I love my job...it's interesting, challenging and fast-paced. In addition, I have the privilege of watching injured people get better. I work in trauma. I don't think it's as sexy as the medical shows on TV, but that's okay.

There's a myriad of ways people get hurt or manage to hurt themselves. Some of it's bad luck, an accident, dangerous lifestyle, or sheer stupidity. In the end, our goal is to get people back to their lives and as close to their previous level of functioning as possible. People often ask us if "I'll ever be normal again". We tell them they'll be different, after all we didn't build them, but we'll help them through the process of recovery. There's nothing like seeing a patient walk into your office to follow up when you've only seen them horizontal on a gurney in the past.

The most frustrating part of the job is when our patients don't do their part of rehab. They frequently come to clinic complaining of pain, weakness, and lack of progress. When asked if they're exercising or in physical therapy, they will frequently give us a myriad of excuses describing why they haven't followed through. This explaination is then often followed by a request for pain relievers. ...hmmm

This has been eating at me for about a week after I had a patient encounter that followed this pattern. The bottom line is we can fix the fractures, sew up the skin, and take x-rays. However, we can not create the desire, the drive and the committment to get better. Those things are internal and drive us to get better, work harder and set goals. There's no pill for this and surgery doesn't automatically create the desire to get well.

It's sad. Some people are so severely injured that they never get better, but they improve. Some people have the potential to get better, but don't want to.