Whenever I bring something to a friend – a gift, an opportunity or something similar – I’m really happy when they tell me “Oh, this is so interesting!“
I’m also excited when I show them something I’m doing or something I own and they say: “Oh, that’s so interesting!”
But I really-really hate it when one specific friend, who also happens to be my doctor says, with excitement: “Bobby, this is such an interesting case!“. I’m almost horrified when he says that while holding some new report regarding my health, but I’d be also worried if he used the same phrase when talking about a common acquaintance or friend that I sent to him for help.
Of course, you already guessed the reason: he just saw something unlikely to happen that often. Like, let’s say, a knee busted so badly that the patella is somehow in front of something that should be behind… not my case, a friend of mine, but it sounds horrifying. My friend told me that she needed 2 or more surgeries to be ok, including several months of pause between them and some more months of recovery after that.
Coming back to my doctor friend: he’s a great person to be around. He’s always energetic, he’s the kind of doctor that explains to you what’s wrong and doesn’t leave you in the dark. And I know, I know, he really likes his chosen profession. And I’m happy for him :)
But, even to this day, more than 10 years since we met, I still tell him: “Man, for God’s sake, please, please, don’t tell me I’m an interesting case…!”
In conclusion, maybe the longer and better version of this post’s title should be: Things you shouldn’t hear from your doctor: “This is such an interesting case!”. I mean, less excitement, maybe? :))
Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay.
