~ Bedside Manner ~

I have SEEN THE LIGHT!!!

My knees have ached horribly since I was a toddler, I think.  I can’t remember when they DIDN’T hurt.  But lately, they have gotten so bad that I have been limping and dreading going up and down stairs, and frankly, feeling about 100 years old.    I finally went into my family Doc, Dr. Amar Duggirala (AMAZING doc…go to him if you if you need a doctor!), and asked him to point me to the nearest ortho-quack.

He knows I have a low tolerance for arrogant surgeons.  Maybe he knows this because his highly developed medical intuition has taught him how to read a patient’s needs.

Or maybe it is because I flat out said, “Don’t send me to a dick.”

It’s ok, he’s used to my frankness.

So he sent me to see Dr. Raffo today.   I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’ve seen surgeons with good bedside manners, and surgeons with brusque bedside manners, and surgeons who are, in essence, dicks.

Oh, by the way, if you haven’t seen the movie “The Doctor” with William Hurt, drop everything, and go rent it.  Thank you.

So I went to Dr. Raffo.  He walked in, a handsome, clean-cut strongly built man, about my age, who sported a genuine smile, met my eyes, and extended his hand for a real shake (not a dismissive one.)

He checked out my knees, did the X-ray thing, established I have the body of a 90-year-old, gave me two shots of Cortisone and sent me on my way.

But before he did, I told him: “You know what, I like you.  Dr. Duggirala sent me to you because you aren’t a dick.”

He paused.  I let it register.  Then he laughed.

“No one has ever said that to my face before.”

Well, the injections worked for now.  I’m happily able to jog down the basement steps to do the laundry, and I’m nicer to my family because I’m not in agony.

So life is good.

Although, I’m not sure Dr. Raffo will ever forgive Dr. Duggirala for siccing me on him.