Mary: "Dr. Grumpy's office, this is Mary."
Mrs. Concern: "Yes, I need to make an appointment for my husband."
Mary: "Okay, we can see him next Tuesday at..."
Mrs. Concern: "That's not acceptable. We need to be seen urgently, this afternoon. We're flying to visit our children in the morning. It's Thanksgiving this week."
Mary: "Yes, ma'am, but we're entirely booked today and Wednesday, and closed the rest of the week. But next Tuesday we have..."
Mrs. Concern: "We can't wait until then. He's had a stroke."
Mary: "When was his stroke?"
Mrs. Concern: "Sometime during the night. He's had trouble using his left side today, and his speech is slurred. And now my back hurts, because with him like this I had to do all the packing for both of us."
Mary: "Ma'am, you need to take him to the emergency room. I know Dr. Grumpy is going to tell you to do that. Immediately."
Mrs. Concern: "Nonsense. They'll just do some expensive tests and put him in the hospital. We have a flight in the morning, and can't miss that. We're going to visit our children. I just want to have Dr. Grumpy check him over before we leave."
Mary: "You really need to take him to an emergency room."
Mrs. Concern: "Our internist's office told us the same thing. I can't say I like the attitude you people in 'modern medicine' have these days."
Mary: "I'm sorry but..."
Mrs. Concern: "I hope you realize you're ruining our Thanksgiving."
Geez, Grumpy, I had no idea you were such an *sshole. Good thing your patients and your families are calling you out on it.
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That poor husband thinks he's got it bad now, just wait until wifey realizes HIS stroke has ruined their Thansgiving. (I doubt Christmas will be problem free either) Imagine all the docs ganging up on her, saying the same thing. The same "wrong" thing. Troubling attitude indeed.
ReplyDeleteShe's about to get a long needed wake-up call.
Priceless. Had something similar happen. When dad came in with chest pain, family refused to come get him upon discharge because it would have messed up their memorial day picnic. I wondered if they'd rather visit dad in the cemetery on memorial day. What is it with people?
ReplyDeleteAnd of course if/when her spouse winds up permanently disabled or dead, she'll find a way to blame (or try to sue) all the doctors who wouldn't see him in their offices and just told her to take him to the ER/ED asap. /sigh
ReplyDeleteSince the window for tPA has probably expired, the only thing those ER and hospital docs will do is run a bunch of tests to determine the cause of the stroke, put him on blood thinners, and get him started in rehab. That won't make him all better by Thanksgiving... Or Christmas... Or possibly ever.
ReplyDeleteBut if Doc Grumpy sees him in the next 12 hours, he can wave his wand and Mr. Concern can be off to Thanksgiving good as new. So hop to it, Grumpy. You've got miracles to perform.
I can think of other things that ruin Thanksgiving , such as having to find a funeral director on Thanksgiving Day to transport a body. Pass the mashed potato, Dad. Dad ? I love Thanksgiving as much as anyone, but having had to spend several of them away from home I know it is not something that kills you like a stroke does. We have become an arrogantly self centered society. Happy Thanksgiving
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling this poor guy wishes it had been a fatal heart attack, based on the witch he is married to.
ReplyDeleteMy husband suggested that perhaps the wife is cognitively impaired, too. He said it sounds like some sort of sign that perhaps she has a bit of dementia.
ReplyDeleteIf that's so, then I feel awfully sorry for the whole bunch of them.
If she's just a shrew, then I take it back.
:)
Anon @ 8:38 ~ love it!
ReplyDeleteGoing to ER = ruining MY Thanksgiving. Dying on the plane? Ruining every passenger's Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of my brother's ex-girlfriend who cried because my brother's unstoppable nosebleed ended up delaying her move (he had to stay overnight in the hospital and she had wanted to have him help her move to another city).
ReplyDeletePoor husband.
Joke will be on her if/when they make it to the airport and they put him in an ambulance instead of a plane.
ReplyDeleteSo the poor man is going to finish dying on the plane (assuming no treatment). THAT is going to make T'giving GREAT for everybody on the crew, on the plane, his family, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteIdiot. Grumpy, if you get this pt in the office, TRY like blazes to get a psych consult on the wife. I suspect a dissociative disorder, with a helping of denial.
Sorry, Ami, I don't think it's cognitive impairment on her part. She's very clear on what she wants. Time for Tough Love: take him to the ED NOW, or I'll call Social Services on your ass. Most docs have a patient/family member like this, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteNana is so correct. Time to take out the 2x4, get names and numbers and get him to the ED.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't she just call the president and have him reschedule Thanksgiving?
ReplyDelete"And if I miss my flight and I don't get those last 2000 frequent flyer miles this calendar year, I'll lose my gold status! I'll have to go back to standing in the regular security line and paying to check baggage! Do you want that on your conscience?"
ReplyDeletenana, et al , ami's husband has potential diagnosis...
ReplyDeleteyou need to spend time with the congnitively impaired = just what is says, no judgement, no clue, so dementia is strong possiblity in this scenario. time for out of town KIDS to get involved....
If you read Not Always Right, you'll find there are too many people with this kind of ridiculous self-centeredness with no need for dementia or other disabilities as an excuse. I think the gold "winner" was the woman who got a call from her doctor's office that her tests had come back positive for skin cancer, and treatment was recommended to start immediately.
ReplyDeleteShe flipped out. Apparently she was due to leave the next day for a three-month tour in Europe, and she didn't want to delay it for medical treatments. The receptionist/nurse's aid tried to get a word in edgewise to tell her what the treatment would consist of and how long it would take, but the woman would not listen, and hung up on her.
The kicker: Her cancer was in such an early stage that it was a one-time outpatient treatment, where they could just zap the cells off in a couple hours at most. And as one commentator on the Facebook Not Always Right Page pointed out, if it was that important she leave precisely on time, why not arrange to have treatment done at a European clinic after she arrived. Delaying a flight or getting treatment after her flight lands both beat what will happen if cancer is allowed to rampage for three months without check.
At least in that case, the woman was only destroying her own physical well-being. This woman is harming her husband, and even a marriage of convenience or an arranged union carries some level of promise to care for your spouse.
Even a turkey gets pardoned at Thanksgiving...
ReplyDeleteSometimes elderly people don't know you can change flights. It's complicated for them. Also they want to see their kids. The older I get the more I get it. I'm not saying she is right it's just probably more complicated.
ReplyDeleteShe cannot be serious? OMG! *smh*
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