Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Dr. Orthochick: Expectations

Dr. Germaphobe and I did a hip the other day, the patient got admitted, I rounded on postop day #1, everything was fine, then I went in to see her on postop day #2

Patient: Dr. Orthochick! Dr. Orthochick! You'll never guess who I saw yesterday!
Me: Who?
Patient: I'll give you a hint: he's a doctor and you work with him
Me: Ummm...an ortho doctor?
Patient: Yes
Me: Is it Dr. Germaphobe?
Patient: Yes! I was so excited to see him yesterday! He came in to visit me!

We are doing a really good job keeping our expectations low around here if patients are getting excited about seeing their surgeon the day after their surgery.

7 comments:

  1. I get a knee replacement next month. Last time my surgeon showed up as soon as I was with it enough to recognize him. He didn't bring me flowers or anything, but I was glad to see a big smile on his face. Hopefully, we have a repeat this time.

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    Replies
    1. God's speed,Jono, for a relatively quick and pain free recovery.
      I'm staying away from commenting, but will "pop my head in"
      now and then when I feel it's justified.
      - Paul

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    2. Paul, Why are you staying away from commenting? I really appreciated your nice words to me!

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    3. Thanks Tracy. I will continue to comment but just be more selective in doing so. By the way, how are you feeling these days?
      - Paul

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  2. I am consistently amazed by how people are so happy on this. If you are in love with them, fine. Otherwise, I would expect a visit. I saw one surgery happen where the surgeon operated, never saw the patient again. Office never called after release and no instructions were given at all. 6 weeks later, the patient called the office and said aren't you supposed to see me? They scheduled an appt for 2 weeks later. This wasn't a simple lap choly either.

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  3. This makes me feel lucky I saw my spine surgeon everyday (sometimes more than once) the 8 days I was in hospital post op.

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