Twisted

I feel pretty lame. One week into this blog and I've already skipped three days! Of course, I've been at the hospital, which, indirectly, is working on the blog.

I guess that's twisted logic, but it's one of the skills I've picked up from my patients. Often, I try to convince them that their bad habits are economically unsound, since the threats of lung cancer or cirrhosis of the liver don't seem to be deterrents. "Two packs a day? That's an expensive habit! Think of the money you could save by quitting! Ten bucks a day is $70 a week." I even do the math FOR them. But they one-up me and proudly show their financial wizardry. "It's ok, I save money by going out of state. It's not expensive at all!"

Then there was the young woman (26 years old, as I recall) who came in complaining of abdominal pain. When I told her that her pregnancy test was positive, she just groaned and said, "Again?!?" When asked how many times she had been pregnant, she said "at least twenty". I guess you start to lose track. She went on to say that she had two children and had aborted the rest, except for the "couple" of ectopics she'd had. I should have known better than to ask if she used any kind of birth control, but I asked. "No one will give me a tubal. I asked my doctor and he just won't do it." I just looked at her. "Have you tried not having sex?" The blank stare I received was answer enough.