Tuesday, March 22, 2011

will you be removing my gall bladder?

i saw a woman with intermittent right upper quadrant abdominal pain very suspicious for a gall bladder problem.  we ran a confirmatory test and i recommended that she have her gall bladder removed.  just to give her an idea of what to expect, i described the surgery to her in very general terms.  she then asked, 'are you going to remove my gallbladder?'  i said sure, now if you'd just lie back and stay still...

good lord, no!

actually, i told her if she ever saw me coming toward her with a scalpel she should jump off the table and run!

1 comment:

  1. I'm still floored when I tell patients I think it might be time for a knee replacment and they ask me when I can do it! Don't think that falls under "see one, do one . . . "

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