hhhmmm

I suppose lately I've had a run of fairly 'normal' clients & patients... This is strange for me. Even my recent relief shift at the ER Clinic was relatively uneventful.

Today, though, I did meet an interesting patient. A dog named Toby with a painful left front leg. He had a little swelling at the area of the carpus (wrist) - the rest of his physical exam was normal. And he was a sweetie. Kinda nervous, liked hiding under the chair his owner was sitting on, but definitely a sweetie. And he captured a piece of my heart. Why? Because he looks & acts exactly like my own dog. Same type of Heinz-57 mutt. Same big brown eyes. Same nervous & excited tail wag. And same "I'm so excited to be going HOME" hopping-walk as he left the clinic. Its a good thing that I have a full house with three big dogs already... and that Toby has a good home. A great home, actually - with a family that loves him very much. Toby is one lucky dog - and his leg should heal up just fine. Sometimes, its nice to have "normal" patients and clients.

Is that normal?

I saw a case today... A case that made me want to laugh at the questions Mrs. Embarrassed was asking. And yet... there was something else there instead. Funny? Yes, it was funny. You'll soon see what I mean. But it also made me realize just how much trust people put out there when I step into a room as "the doctor." Trust that I have done nothing to deserve - nothing other than going to 8 years of school & wearing the white coat. Trust is something people don't usually give freely - it usually has to be earned, and that takes time. But somehow, many people give trust the second they step through my exam room door. And today, the weight of that responsibility hit me in the middle of an otherwise hilarious situation.

I was examining Marshmallow's eye... he was a little white dog, a neutered male. His eyes started watering yesterday and today they were very red. I stained his eyes, prescribed the proper meds, and was on my way out the door to see the next patient. But then Mrs. Embarrassed stopped me. "Doc, I've got one more question for you." Sure, I've got time... "Well, you see, Marshmallow is neutered. But he has this teddy bear. And he humps the teddy bear sometimes. And then a long red thing appears, and he licks and licks it until it goes away. What IS that? Is that NORMAL?" So I explained that even neutered dogs can get 'excited' so to speak, and that red thing is his penis, and yes, its "normal" for some male dogs to do that, neutered or not... Mrs. Embarrassed is an African American woman, but you know what? I swear I saw her blush. And then she thanked me for answering her questions, and said she was glad she knew it wasn't something to worry about.

Trust. Today I met Mrs. Embarrassed for the first time. And today, she trusted me fully - almost instantly. And I'd like to think that - funny as the situation was, and as much as I wanted to laugh - I'd like to think that I earned the trust she gave me. That is my job. And I love it.