What this physician learned from being an ailing patient

I felt a gust of sharp pain a couple of centimeters to the right of my belly button. It will subside, I thought. All pain subsides. It was an easy dictum to follow as a 39-year-old pediatric eye doc who last spent a night in the hospital as a patient in 1977. I’d undergone bilateral laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair ten days earlier, so I was accustomed to brief squalls of discomfort after certain maneuvers — in this case, 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. My adherence to post-operative instructions was incomplete, but I reasoned that after more than a week of smooth sailing, the chance of an untoward event was small. I was helping my wife construct a dish for a gathering we were to attend when the pain mutated from sharp to squeezing. I told her, with more levity than I felt, that if I got worse, we could divert to the tertiary care hospital down the street from our friend’s place. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Nephrology Source Type: blogs