I had a patient in clinic today who'd been referred to the medicine clinic for a routine checkup after a visit to the dermatology clinic last month. I read the chart before I saw him, nothing remarkable. Nothing listed in the medical history, no other problems besides the skin issue he had gone to the dermatologist about.
So I start to do a physical exam, we're talking about how his skin issue is doing, and I casually ask if he has any other problems.
"Oh, yeah, I've been feeling some itching on my leg stump."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, some itching."
"Uh... you don't have a leg?"
"Yeah, no leg."
"This new, since you saw the dermatologist?"
"No."
"And the dermatologist didn't notice this?"
"I don't know."
"And you had the brace, and everything?"
"Yeah."
He saw I was looking at the chart, a little perplexed.
"Yeah, I don't think he asked."
"Didn't even have you take off your shoes?"
"Nope."
"Hmmm."
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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Oh dear! Loving your blog. Am progeny of 1945 JHU MD/PhD grad and grew up on bedtime stories about female anopheles mosquito and dinner table conversations featuring a differential diagnoses of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Anyway...thanks for sharing. Love the little movie vignettes, too!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's about as embarrassing as missing pregnancy as a cause for amenorrhea.
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