Chutzpah

It's 10:55. Mrs. 11:30 walks into the waiting room, where Mr. 11:00 is reading a magazine.


Mary: "Hi, can I help you?"

Mrs. 11:30: "Yes, I have a routine appointment with Dr. Grumpy at 11:30, but my husband has a work-in with his cardiologist downstairs at 11:45, which he just made. Can I be seen early, so I can run down there?"

Mary: "I'm sorry, he's with someone now, and has an 11:00 appointment ahead of you. Otherwise I would."

Mrs: 11:30: "Can you..."

Mr. 11:00: "Hi, I don't mind waiting. I have the 11:00 appointment, so why don't you just switch us out? I don't have to be anywhere right away."

Mrs. 11:30: "Oh, thank you so much."

Mary: "Okay, that works for me. I'll let the doc know you're switching."


I finish with Mr. 10:30 and bring him up to check-out. Mary quickly explains the schedule change, so I bring Mrs. 11:30 back to my office. I address her issues, and we conclude the visit at around 11:25.


Dr. Grumpy: "All right, let me know how the medication change works out... I hope everything is okay with your husband."

Mrs. 11:30: "My husband? Why?"

Dr. Grumpy: "You said he had an urgent work-in with his cardiologist?"

Mrs. 11:30: "Oh, I just told the front people that. He's fine. I just needed to leave early because my cat sitter can't stay past 11:45."

She walked out front and left.

Texting with Frank

Also, stop calling me "Bro."

Seen in a chart

For my non-medical readers, the last word is supposed to be "hematuria."

Annie's desk

Annie: "Dr. Grumpy's office. This is Annie."

Mrs. Daughter: "Hi, Dr. Grumpy saw my mother last week, for Alzheimer's disease. We're trying to get her long-term care approved, and need him to fill out the forms. I forget to ask him when we were there. Can I drop them by the office later today?"

Annie: "Certainly, but he's out of town this week, so won't be able to do them until he's back. We can mail or fax them back to you when ready, or you can come get them."

Mrs. Daughter: "What do you mean 'he's out of town?' "

Annie: "Family vacation stuff, his kids are off for fall break, so..."

Mrs. Daughter: "That's ridiculous. I want these forms done NOW."

Annie: "Well, he'll be back next week, so will be glad to do them then, or you can see if your mother's internist can..."

Mrs. Daughter: "The internist is the one who referred me to you. Obviously, I wouldn't have come to you if I'd known he was THAT kind of doctor!"

Annie: "Um, what kind of doctor?"

Mrs. Daughter "The kind who takes vacations when his patients need him!"

Time out

All right, gang. I'm going to have to take a few weeks off here. We're now entering the heart of the high school marching band competition season, and between my day job and band meetings, band fundraisers, band shows, band-aids, band trips, rubber bands, and band saws I need to take some time off from the blog (and a lot of other stuff, too).

See you in a few weeks!