I was having Turkish coffee with a friend of mine.
This friend is an MD.
In the course of our conversation, I asked my friend if he had experienced any drama at work lately?
My friend said, “I had a patient get upset with me recently, and that was kind of dramatic.”
I raised my eyebrows, indicating that my friend should supply details.
“My patient has diabetes, and so I told him, ‘You have diabetes.’ And he really didn’t appreciate me telling him that. And then I told him, ‘If you want my help, and if you want to be healthy – you have to stop smoking, and reduce alcohol consumption; and you must be smart with snacks, and take diabetes medication.’ And my patient said, ‘Why are you judging me!? And why are you so upset with me!?’ I said, ‘I’m not judging you, I’m simply observing a fact about you …you have diabetes. And I’m not upset with you for having diabetes, though I am honestly telling you that you’ll need to make some changes.’ At this point my patient called his servant and said, ‘Tell this “doctor” that I do not appreciate his tone or his topic of conversation!’ The servant gave me a pusillanimous look and said, ‘Dr., please acknowledge that my master has excellent health insurance, and he is in fact here with you at a legitimate medical facility; and therefore ‘he’s good.’ I was beginning to feel quite queer about this whole interaction. I conjured my countenance into a Paddington hard stare and said, ‘I certainly acknowledge that you have excellent health insurance, and therefore you definitely have access to good healthcare …which is what I’m inviting you to embrace right now. The reality and availability of good healthcare is not the same thing as being receptive to good healthcare. Do you understand?’ My patient was fuming mad, and his servant pleaded with me, ‘Please just tell my master that he is good and he has superb coverage!’ “
At this point my friend said to me, “You’ll have to excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.”
So I sat there in suspense while my buddy got up to use the loo.
When he returned he started asking me about my summer.
I said, “Hold on! …What happened with your diabetic patient!?”
“I told him, ‘Go forth and triumph; you’ll be just fine!’ “
“Really!?”
“Yep.”
#1Kings2215
:::
“To lose the power of confrontation is to lose the power of unity.”
– Matthew McConaughey
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