Persistence of Memory...and Time

First anecdote: Good news = Today I became a PRO at giving shots. Bad news = the reason why...the last patients of the day that came strolling into the office at 7:30pm would of course be the most complicated and sensitive. To make a very long story short, the husband had recently been abusing IV drugs and neglected to tell his wife of 10 years. The wife had recently been having 'casual', unprotected sex with a neighbor (or two) and neglected to inform her husband. The outcome? He gave her hepatitis B and she gave him chlamydia. NOT a pretty sight (or interview...) So thanks to their absolute disregard for each other I spent my evening loading them both up with preventative shots and immunizations in the hopes that neither contract any more diseases they are now susceptible to. The saddest part was that both husband and wife were extremely intelligent, attractive and successful individuals. And before the interview got started, I was actually admiring how caring they were acting about one another...If today's experience didn't completely shatter my faith in the meaning of relationships then I don't know what will! Moral of the story: Never take anyone's word for granted. Obviously all us unmarried folks should be regularly testing ourselves for STD's (read: after EVERY new encounter..those of you going back and forth between interests, please BE CAREFUL!!!!) but even those in monogamous relationships, take heed! Take measures to protect yourself because at the end of the day, no one is going to care about you as much as YOU care about you.


Second anecdote: Day 1 in my Family Med doctor's office I noticed that every single clock in his establishment was broken. Every single clock (between the waiting room, lobby and 4 patient rooms there were at least 7 clocks) had picked its own, individual time to hover around, second hand futilely trying to click forward but being thrown back to just the second before by some magical battery that had enough juice to keep the hand eternally struggling to reach its desired moment but not enough juice to ever allow resolution. My first few days I mused over how the situation as it stood so beautifully demonstrated the attitude we should exude in our chosen professions and in our personal relationships. There should always be that feeling that what we are striving for is within arm's reach, but always just a bit out of grasp. Allow that longing to move you towards that or whom which you desire to be the energy that will forever propel you. However, I understand that this spiel would be ineffective if the conclusion ended with this philosophy since it would imply that while we may work hard we will never reach our goals but herein lies the denouement...Today when at 7:15am I walked into my first diabetic patient's room, I wasn't as surprised to see his bloody toe nails that his chihuahua tore off in the middle of the night hanging off his foot as I was to see that all the clocks in the rooms were miraculously once again in working order. So toil forth, my weary friends...and should you fatigue, have faith too that the mysterious maintenance man of your inner being will soon replace your batteries to give you the strength to keep on going as well :)


GO GET TESTED! Trust me, it's MUCH better to find out what you have now and get it treated than to have an awkward, 3rd year medical student have to explain to you and your significant other the activities which precipitate contraction of diseases you now have and will be susceptible to in the future, sexually transmitted and otherwise.