"Please Fill Your Antibiotic!"

I had a crazy week.  In which I meant to blog but I forgot.  So here I am.  Second-year fellow.  Which feels no different from first-year fellow, except for a tiny salary bump.

A patient comes in with a rash on his chest.  A fairly scary looking rash on his chest.

"How long has it looked like this?"

"Oh, it's definitely worse today than yesterday."

"And yesterday was the first day?"

"No, it's been about a week."

"And you're only coming in to see a doctor now?"

"No, I saw a doctor yesterday."

"Who did you see?"

"I went to the emergency room."

"The emergency room here?"

"No, a different emergency room."

"Which one?"

"I don't remember.  They gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.  They said it should make it better."

"How many doses have you taken."

"None.  I didn't fill the prescription yet."

"Why not?"

"I wanted to see if it would get better."

"You went to the hospital yesterday."

"Yes."

"They gave you an antibiotic and told you to take it."

"Yes."

"You did not take it.  The rash got worse.  You decided to come here and see another doctor."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it did not get better."

"Take the antibiotic!"

"But I want to see if it gets better."

"Take the antibiotic and it will get better!  What did you think I would say?"

"I don't know."

"Take the antibiotic!  Go to the pharmacy.  Fill the prescription.  Take the antibiotic.  Then we'll see if it gets better.  It should get better."

"Maybe I wait one more day?"

"Why?  Take the antibiotic.  Can you not afford to fill the prescription?"

"No, I can."

"So why don't you want to?"

"I don't know."

"Will you promise me you'll fill the prescription and take the antibiotic?"

"Yes."

"Okay.  Feel better.  Goodbye."