Friday, January 04, 2008

i am compliant

i had a great doctors visit today! and possibly also the briefest ever. i didn't think it was possible for dr lee to spend less time with us than previous visits but he really did today. it was amazing. just a whirlwind, a barrage of info, and then back out the door.

its been eight weeks since i broke my back. this was my second monthly visit. so he starts by saying that in three weeks, i can start to ween myself off of the back brace. he's going on about stuff like i'm a textbook, not even really asking me about how i'm doing. i bring up that i'm having some unusual and rather intense pains in my upper back/ribcage, not at all close to where i broke bones. i reiterate that its happening in the mornings, when i always have the most hurts. and he looks at me with such surprise, "you're still sleeping in the brace?" "well, yes," i say, "you told me to never take it off, ever ever...so, um, i haven't." he just sort of blinks at me and finally says, "i did say that."

since he doesn't really have a better answer than that, he starts looking at the xrays they just took. i am all excited because even i can see that the bones all look like bones and not cloudy blobs where bones should be. and then dr lee becomes overly excited. "i've never had a patient so compliant...you are healing so fast and so well because you have been so compliant, you can start to ween yourself off the brace in two weeks...and don't sleep in it anymore..." and then he said the word compliant about five more times and flew out the door on to the next patient.

apparently no one else follows the spine surgeon's rules? this isn't like the dentist; no one flosses like they should and no one really feels bad about that. or like glasses; i could muddle through my day without them. but, wow, i can't muddle through my day without my spine so i'm going to do exactly to the letter what the spine surgeon says. i didn't think i would be the exception on this. i mean, yeah, i did jump off a balcony, so i can't with a straight face say i don't take chances with my spine, but really, i don't take chances with my spine.

his choice of wording is also terrific. i called up work right away and told them over and over again about how he said i was so compliant. and of course, my compliance department teammates thought that was a hoot and a half. i mean that's what i do for a living, compliance. i am compliant.

1 Comments:

  • At 2:15 PM , Blogger mary ann said...

    That's fantastic! I bet you're super relieved and sleeping well...

     

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