-everyone should hold a baby at least once a day. very therapeutic! maria brought daniel in to visit. what a happy baby! he's got crazy bursts of energy though. it was nice to return him back to mom after playing with him for a few minutes. ha. i thought my arms were gonna fall off.
-i enjoy seeing diverse people of all ages. one of the best things about this job is the access to interact with hundreds/thousands of people over years to come.
-3 yr old F was quite spastic. calvin commented that if he were a kid in the suburbs, he'd already be on ritalin. even though he wasn't a well-behaved patient, he did something super cute, which was jumped out of the dental chair, climbed onto the stool in front of the computer and got into a typing position. i want to laugh at these things out loud, but it's probably not good for disciplining him.
-nice talking to coworkers to debrief over the day, even though it meant staying at the office longer. all the older women are so caring and nurturing.
-today was not the day to have a staff meeting and discuss how we can increase my patient load. i saw 19 patients yesterday. and was pooped this morning.
-God's grace evident in all my work. couldn't get T numb, but way more anesthetic than i usually use helped keep her bleeding under control. i need ears to listen.
-saw E again, and was totally fine making friendly convo. he told me about why he spent a few years in jail. he was selling drugs and made a deal for 37 thousand dollars to an undercover cop. oops! now he's in this group home and cooking breakfast for 15 men every morning at 5 a.m. way to become productive and serving others!
-J came in and exclaimed, "hey! i saw you in the street the other day. you were walking really fast!"
haha. i walk fast so i won't get shot/jumped/mugged. just kidding. i'm always running late.
it's nice to know that some of the dudes who are loitering the streets are my patients. i'm safe in kensington!
anyway, i told him to say hi to me next time he saw me. dunno if i'm going to regret that or not.
-apparently J, who is writing a song for me, is also writing a song for Diane, his nurse practitioner. it's ok. i'm not the jealous type. esp since Ty told me that he ran his fingers through her hair in the elevator the other day. umm... creepy!
-F brought her nephew in with her. i guess she was watching him. he kept talking and talking and then would get upset that Titi would snap at him and cut him off for being disruptive to our conversations. "you never let me talk!" he whined. i felt bad and my initial instinct was, "no worries! i'm listening to you!" but right after i said it, i wish i hadn't, coz i didn't want to interfere with Auntie's disciplining. after the procedure, i saw that he's just attention-starved and also a little spoiled/malcriado. he asked Titi for some gum. Titi didn't have any. he got a little angry and then told her, "i'm going to eh-spank you!" i looked at him and said, "hey!" [don't talk to adults like that]... and then quickly wish i hadn't said that either. because i don't think that was my place to reprimand him for being disrespectful. then Titi goes, "Tio's going to eh-spanking you at home!" that sets him off, he sits on the ground and starts wailing with large tears running down his face. he must be really scared of Tio's spanking. which, in people of colour culture, i'd be scared of getting beat too.
as if that weren't enough...
-S came and has two loose teeth in the front, but they're about to fall out because we can see the adult teeth ready to come in on the xray. apparently S had been complaining to her mom about the pain the last 3 weeks. mom, fed up, finally brought her in. S was hella scared and told me that her teeth suddenly didn't hurt anymore. mom wanted to have the teeth removed, which i offered to do. then S had a "no quiero!" fit. i left them alone for 10 minutes. S obviously owned her mom. i was maybe more indifferent than i should have been. sometimes i want to slap some kids. but these aren't my kids.
-16 year old M brought her baby in today. she's soooo cute and this 10 month old was dressed in a puffy black winter jacket with hot pink "baby girl" in graffiti font printed all over it. JEANS. and black and hot pink sneakers with silver glitter.
very different culture from my culture.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
-lots of communication issues today. i might as well have been speaking taiwanese.
me: "do you have any eye problems?"
g: "no."
me: "why are you wearing these special sunglasses?"
g: "oh. i just got cataract surgery in this eye. and next week i will have cataract surgery in that eye."
me: "so, you have eye problems?"
g: "no."
----
a: "i have pain in this molar that's broken here."
me: "we're going to have to remove the tooth."
a: "are you going to extract the tooth?!"
me: "yes, we have to extract the tooth."
a: "don't remove my tooth! but can you extract my molar?"
me: "der?"
a: "[in MY world] teeth are up here in the front. molars are back here."
me: (speaking in code) "ok, we won't remove your 'tooth', we will only extract your 'molar'."
----
el sigh.
me: "do you have any eye problems?"
g: "no."
me: "why are you wearing these special sunglasses?"
g: "oh. i just got cataract surgery in this eye. and next week i will have cataract surgery in that eye."
me: "so, you have eye problems?"
g: "no."
----
a: "i have pain in this molar that's broken here."
me: "we're going to have to remove the tooth."
a: "are you going to extract the tooth?!"
me: "yes, we have to extract the tooth."
a: "don't remove my tooth! but can you extract my molar?"
me: "der?"
a: "[in MY world] teeth are up here in the front. molars are back here."
me: (speaking in code) "ok, we won't remove your 'tooth', we will only extract your 'molar'."
----
el sigh.
Friday, February 4, 2011
friday:
-H came back and didn't mention that he did heroin this time. so hopefully he's not doing it anymore. he did mention that he got a tooth out in prison last year. and he's probably the most expensively-dressed patient i've seen so far. which leads me to believe that he has some ways to make quick cash. that he's maybe pretty high up there in the pyramid.
-D's wife tickled my stomach as she was on her way to the door. i laughed like the pillsbury doughboy coz i didn't know what else to do, but then my face probably looked really confused. because i was really confused. "did she just do that?" isn't that weird to do that to your dentist?
sunday:
-there was a 2 year old at church who sneaked up behind me. i dunno what came over me, but he was so cute and i just grabbed his tummy. and then had a flashback of friday. and wondered if D and his wife think of me as a 2-year old? like they have the license to grab my cheeks and legs and tummy and pet me like a puppy?
-H came back and didn't mention that he did heroin this time. so hopefully he's not doing it anymore. he did mention that he got a tooth out in prison last year. and he's probably the most expensively-dressed patient i've seen so far. which leads me to believe that he has some ways to make quick cash. that he's maybe pretty high up there in the pyramid.
-D's wife tickled my stomach as she was on her way to the door. i laughed like the pillsbury doughboy coz i didn't know what else to do, but then my face probably looked really confused. because i was really confused. "did she just do that?" isn't that weird to do that to your dentist?
sunday:
-there was a 2 year old at church who sneaked up behind me. i dunno what came over me, but he was so cute and i just grabbed his tummy. and then had a flashback of friday. and wondered if D and his wife think of me as a 2-year old? like they have the license to grab my cheeks and legs and tummy and pet me like a puppy?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
-just learned that it's pretty much impossible for young men to receive medicaid unless they have a child with whom they are living. this contributes to the perpetuating cycles of young men in poverty who end up in prison, gangs, the street, drugs. maybe some feel like the only option is the military. but C brought up a good point that some could see it as 'we'll corner the lower class men and offer this as their only option, send them to the front lines to die on our behalf.' which isn't a good message.
-also learned that pennsylvania is one of 7 remaining states to offer comprehensive dental care to those with medicaid. i guess i came to right place for public health. but this could easily change within a year as budgets continue to be slashed all over the place.
-temporary are we.
-also learned that pennsylvania is one of 7 remaining states to offer comprehensive dental care to those with medicaid. i guess i came to right place for public health. but this could easily change within a year as budgets continue to be slashed all over the place.
-temporary are we.
-got flicked off by an angry philly driver today. my first time! he honked at me like crazy because i think i was blocking him from passing me as two lanes were merging into one.
normally these things stress me out, but i strangely didn't have any sense of disturbance whatsoever. it's like my car became a sanctuary of serenity, even though i think i was listening to a lady gaga song on the radio in that moment.
i tried to feel some empathy, or some kind of regret, or feel bad for blocking him? but it wasn't working. it wasn't my fault he was in my blind spot. (we learned in driver's ed to avoid positioning ourselves in others' blind spots.)
-went to felicita's viewing after work with some coworkers to support our coworkers. felicita sounds like an amazing woman. open casket, still looked really good at 91. bore 10 children, lost 5 children. has 16 grandchildren. 46 great-grandchildren. and 5 great great-grandchildren. she endured an abusive husband. sons and grandsons in prison. lots of other hardships. but she was a faithful deaconess in her church and often visited those in need at hospitals, prisons, shelters. i didn't stay for the service coz i don't do well at these types of things. but, i'm glad i got to stop by and be a part of it.
-latinos are kinda at the other end of the spectrum as east asians (blanket statement coming here...) in terms of emotional management. where i was probably conditioned to not address emotions or at least contain them and keep them very controlled. meanwhile as i'm learning about latino/hispanic culture, there seems to be tendency to thirst and yearn for emotion, and then once it is grasped to swim and splash in it, and grow it until who knows when. ok, maybe it's more a hua-ren/japanese thing, than an east asian thing. haha.
-J came in again, and he looooves coming to our clinic. he says he's writing a song about me and he's going to translate in into spanish. he stayed up until 5:30 a.m. working on it, as a true musician. i guess it's borderline creepy. but he's over 60, so maybe that makes it not as discomforting.
-ate too much chocolate today.
normally these things stress me out, but i strangely didn't have any sense of disturbance whatsoever. it's like my car became a sanctuary of serenity, even though i think i was listening to a lady gaga song on the radio in that moment.
i tried to feel some empathy, or some kind of regret, or feel bad for blocking him? but it wasn't working. it wasn't my fault he was in my blind spot. (we learned in driver's ed to avoid positioning ourselves in others' blind spots.)
-went to felicita's viewing after work with some coworkers to support our coworkers. felicita sounds like an amazing woman. open casket, still looked really good at 91. bore 10 children, lost 5 children. has 16 grandchildren. 46 great-grandchildren. and 5 great great-grandchildren. she endured an abusive husband. sons and grandsons in prison. lots of other hardships. but she was a faithful deaconess in her church and often visited those in need at hospitals, prisons, shelters. i didn't stay for the service coz i don't do well at these types of things. but, i'm glad i got to stop by and be a part of it.
-latinos are kinda at the other end of the spectrum as east asians (blanket statement coming here...) in terms of emotional management. where i was probably conditioned to not address emotions or at least contain them and keep them very controlled. meanwhile as i'm learning about latino/hispanic culture, there seems to be tendency to thirst and yearn for emotion, and then once it is grasped to swim and splash in it, and grow it until who knows when. ok, maybe it's more a hua-ren/japanese thing, than an east asian thing. haha.
-J came in again, and he looooves coming to our clinic. he says he's writing a song about me and he's going to translate in into spanish. he stayed up until 5:30 a.m. working on it, as a true musician. i guess it's borderline creepy. but he's over 60, so maybe that makes it not as discomforting.
-ate too much chocolate today.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
-patient came with toothache. his lady friend or sister came into the room "for moral support". i told her she was totally welcome to sit in while we extract his tooth, unless she is going to feel uneasy. no need for unnecessary queasiness. then she asks if she can film the procedure. i told her it's okay if the patient consents. the patient was like, "no way!", but she busted out the camera anyway. which makes me suspect that she was his sister, instead of his lover. ? i dunno. anyway, i didn't think she would actually do it. and now i'm a little worried she might post it on youtube or something. mainly because i'm not sure if she captured my face at all. and also that my name is embroidered on my jacket. -__-
he was pretty funny. it helped calm his nerves since this was the first time he would have a tooth removed. the lady friend tried to help him, "let the doctor do her thing. she knows what she's doing!" then he chimes in, "yeah! they're all christians at this place!"
so to make convo, i ask, "oh. are you christians?"
patient points to friend and says, "she's a christian."
then i ask, "how about you?"
then he replies, "i'm christ-like."
i didn't have the chance to follow-up on this matter because i had to take his tooth out and he couldn't talk while i was doing that.
anyway, we got his tooth out. and he's biting on the gauze. and he goes, "look me up online! you can find my song on reverb nation. my name is king tut. i have a song called 'god is watching you'.
me: cool. do you sing? or mix?
patient: i rap.
me: nice
patient: i'm gonna rap for you right now!
me: please bite down on the gauze. i need you to bite down to stop the bleeding.
patient: [raps an excerpt from 'god's watching'] you should just download my song. it's only 99 cents! i gave you business today. now you can give me business.
me: umm. ok?!
patient: that's king tut "k n g t u t"!
me: great. thank you so much.
so at the end of the day, i'm looking up the song. he's got all these pictures of himself on his reverb nation space. calvin sees it and exclaims, "that's the jacket he was wearing today!" haha. he was also wearing the same watch. hahaha.
umm... so the track he promised is def on there and it's def 99cents. but i'm not sure i want to spend the dollar since all the other titles seem kinda trashy.
he was pretty funny. it helped calm his nerves since this was the first time he would have a tooth removed. the lady friend tried to help him, "let the doctor do her thing. she knows what she's doing!" then he chimes in, "yeah! they're all christians at this place!"
so to make convo, i ask, "oh. are you christians?"
patient points to friend and says, "she's a christian."
then i ask, "how about you?"
then he replies, "i'm christ-like."
i didn't have the chance to follow-up on this matter because i had to take his tooth out and he couldn't talk while i was doing that.
anyway, we got his tooth out. and he's biting on the gauze. and he goes, "look me up online! you can find my song on reverb nation. my name is king tut. i have a song called 'god is watching you'.
me: cool. do you sing? or mix?
patient: i rap.
me: nice
patient: i'm gonna rap for you right now!
me: please bite down on the gauze. i need you to bite down to stop the bleeding.
patient: [raps an excerpt from 'god's watching'] you should just download my song. it's only 99 cents! i gave you business today. now you can give me business.
me: umm. ok?!
patient: that's king tut "k n g t u t"!
me: great. thank you so much.
so at the end of the day, i'm looking up the song. he's got all these pictures of himself on his reverb nation space. calvin sees it and exclaims, "that's the jacket he was wearing today!" haha. he was also wearing the same watch. hahaha.
umm... so the track he promised is def on there and it's def 99cents. but i'm not sure i want to spend the dollar since all the other titles seem kinda trashy.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
conversation reel of the day:
-i walk into the room where M is sitting. she brashly asks monin, "IS THAT THE DOCTOR OR IS THAT A STUDENT?!"
somebody got out the wrong side of the bed!
i'm not a morning person at all.
i wanted to let her know that all professionals are committed to being students for life. we must always be learning and growing and improving our skills. whether we care about it. or whether we just need to take continuing ed classes to maintain our license to practice.
but by grace, i respond, as sweetly as i can, "i'm the doctor! i saw you last year! how can i help you today?!"
M tells me the tragic story of how she was flossing and her tooth chipped. then she blurted some expletives.
once we get past all that. i ask her about her family. she's got 2 boys. ages 5 and 7. the older one has adhd. she thinks she has adhd as well. and is therefore concerned that the younger one has adhd. when the younger one was 8 months, the older one threw him down the stairs.
she's raising them by herself.
it's a lot to handle.
i think she's younger than me.
-monin's fav comment about many patients is, "i don't think he's all there."
today she def said it about J.
J: i want to quit smoking. God bless me.
me: great.
J: i make pizzas for a living. and i also fixed my denture with krazy glue. i'm a jack of all trades. God bless me.
me: okay.
monin: what is your date of birth?
J: i don't like to say it out loud because i'm 50 years old! my birthday is aug 28, NINETEEN SIXTY.
me: heh.
J: why are you laughing?!!!
me: der?
J: i don't like to tell people my age because i'm 50 and my girlfriend is 33!
me: ok.
J: God bless me.
me: Dios te bendiga!
later on, i'm recounting this to taina. and taina's like "oooh, i think that's the patient who gave me the love dove inn business card. eeeeew!!!!! she pulls out this business card from her pocket and it's a mini flyer and on it there's a picture of a heart shaped bed with 80s decor, and then another picture of a jacuzzi labelled 'love pool'. eeeeeeeeeew.
then monin says, "yep. he's really not all there."
speaking of not all there, taina has to recount to the team the episode with F, who has a hard time letting go of her. he once gave her a really long hug. too long, man. please get your hands off my assistant! anyway, one day he was walking out, taina was at the computer eating an apple. F said bye to her and stroked her hair as he walked out. she was totally caught off guard. i saw the whole thing, and my only reaction was, "ah-ha!" (nelson from the simpson's voice) as i stood there pointing in shock.
anyway, F, is one of those love-hate patients. it's almost like he enjoys instigating and pushing people's buttons. but he really friendly. a little too friendly. so it's not like we can really hate him or shun him away. he's kind of a sensitive abuelo. today i just found out about an episode where he was at the front desk and kind of telling monin that she needs to find a man in order to be complete. and kinda proselytizing his views on how marriage is better, and doesn't understand why his dentist (me) is siempre soltera. i don't know if he's ever said this to my face before because F talks really, really fast with a dominican accent. and i don't understand 90% of what he says. i just nod and smile. anyway, apparently his comments went overboard for monin and she kinda went off on him. don't mess with puerto rican women. yeah, i guess it was pretty inappropriate to be getting into people's bidness like that, especially in an open waiting room setting, where all the other patients are watching. i don't care if people express themselves in the chair where it's more private. but people really aren't supposed to talk about personal things in la sala de espera. F's story is interesting. he was studying to be a priest but then left. got married. has 4 daughters and some grandchildren. including his 15 yr old daughter's new baby. F's wife is also a patient and she always has a scowl on her face despite F's claims of marital bliss.
----------
just cut and pasted this from my gchat:
-----------------
-T missed a lot of appointments. but she actually showed up today. she really wants new dentures. sadly, we have a rule that if patients miss too many appointments we won't do their dentures for them. she pleaded and pleaded with me. she told me she missed her appointments because her daughter had gastric bypass surgery and had to have 3 subsequent surgeries to correct some complications. of course i empathize that it's a stressful situation. but she's clearly trying to manipulate me. i told her i would ask admin if we can make an exception for her and will call with an update. she just kept repeating her story over and over. kinda like how people think that by talking in a louder voice, their listeners will understand, even if they don't understand the speaker's language. haha. 'do you speak english? DO. YOU. SPEAK. ENGLISH?'
there are a few things that would jade people in this situation.
1. my tax dollars going into medicaid that are prolly paying for her daughter's gastric bypass. gastric bypass as a result of obesity as a result of poor diet choices/poor lifestyle choices.
2. my tax dollars going into medicaid that would cover her dentures.
dentures as a result of premature tooth loss as a result of poor diet/poor hygiene.
3. there's no verbal commitment to behaviour change in terms of her agreeing to come to all her appointments or call 24 hrs in advance if she needs to cancel
4. she just doesn't get it that an appointment doesn't mean "maybe i'll come! if i feel like coming, that's great! if i don't come, i won't feel bad about standing you up." versus "thank you for giving me some time in your schedule to do this service?"
i'm not jaded yet.
but sometimes i think about it.
------------------
speaking of manipulation.
-M returned and asked for more percocet. i get the sense that she tries to suck up to me a lot. i don't doubt that she's in pain. but it's interesting how she's subtly requesting drugs, but overdoing the subtlety that it's totally not subtle.
--------------------
-after all the nonsense of the day i was glad to have a cute 11 yr old to wrap things up. while she was waiting for me, we could hear her talking to a friend on her cell phone. she sounded like an adult talking to her friend. and when i finally walked in the room she goes, "hey, i gotta call yall back. later. bye."
-i walk into the room where M is sitting. she brashly asks monin, "IS THAT THE DOCTOR OR IS THAT A STUDENT?!"
somebody got out the wrong side of the bed!
i'm not a morning person at all.
i wanted to let her know that all professionals are committed to being students for life. we must always be learning and growing and improving our skills. whether we care about it. or whether we just need to take continuing ed classes to maintain our license to practice.
but by grace, i respond, as sweetly as i can, "i'm the doctor! i saw you last year! how can i help you today?!"
M tells me the tragic story of how she was flossing and her tooth chipped. then she blurted some expletives.
once we get past all that. i ask her about her family. she's got 2 boys. ages 5 and 7. the older one has adhd. she thinks she has adhd as well. and is therefore concerned that the younger one has adhd. when the younger one was 8 months, the older one threw him down the stairs.
she's raising them by herself.
it's a lot to handle.
i think she's younger than me.
-monin's fav comment about many patients is, "i don't think he's all there."
today she def said it about J.
J: i want to quit smoking. God bless me.
me: great.
J: i make pizzas for a living. and i also fixed my denture with krazy glue. i'm a jack of all trades. God bless me.
me: okay.
monin: what is your date of birth?
J: i don't like to say it out loud because i'm 50 years old! my birthday is aug 28, NINETEEN SIXTY.
me: heh.
J: why are you laughing?!!!
me: der?
J: i don't like to tell people my age because i'm 50 and my girlfriend is 33!
me: ok.
J: God bless me.
me: Dios te bendiga!
later on, i'm recounting this to taina. and taina's like "oooh, i think that's the patient who gave me the love dove inn business card. eeeeew!!!!! she pulls out this business card from her pocket and it's a mini flyer and on it there's a picture of a heart shaped bed with 80s decor, and then another picture of a jacuzzi labelled 'love pool'. eeeeeeeeeew.
then monin says, "yep. he's really not all there."
speaking of not all there, taina has to recount to the team the episode with F, who has a hard time letting go of her. he once gave her a really long hug. too long, man. please get your hands off my assistant! anyway, one day he was walking out, taina was at the computer eating an apple. F said bye to her and stroked her hair as he walked out. she was totally caught off guard. i saw the whole thing, and my only reaction was, "ah-ha!" (nelson from the simpson's voice) as i stood there pointing in shock.
anyway, F, is one of those love-hate patients. it's almost like he enjoys instigating and pushing people's buttons. but he really friendly. a little too friendly. so it's not like we can really hate him or shun him away. he's kind of a sensitive abuelo. today i just found out about an episode where he was at the front desk and kind of telling monin that she needs to find a man in order to be complete. and kinda proselytizing his views on how marriage is better, and doesn't understand why his dentist (me) is siempre soltera. i don't know if he's ever said this to my face before because F talks really, really fast with a dominican accent. and i don't understand 90% of what he says. i just nod and smile. anyway, apparently his comments went overboard for monin and she kinda went off on him. don't mess with puerto rican women. yeah, i guess it was pretty inappropriate to be getting into people's bidness like that, especially in an open waiting room setting, where all the other patients are watching. i don't care if people express themselves in the chair where it's more private. but people really aren't supposed to talk about personal things in la sala de espera. F's story is interesting. he was studying to be a priest but then left. got married. has 4 daughters and some grandchildren. including his 15 yr old daughter's new baby. F's wife is also a patient and she always has a scowl on her face despite F's claims of marital bliss.
----------
just cut and pasted this from my gchat:
i have this patient who has a tattoo on his forehead
he's 50 years old
and he got the tattoo done while he was in prison
pretty badass
except that he's kind of a big baby
and he whimpers every time i have to give him an injection
today was like, "YOU GOT A TATTOO ON YOUR FOREHEAD! AND YOU CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS TINY LITTLE SHOT?!!!"
and he was about to cry and responded, "the tattoo is nothing! it's on the bone! that doesn't hurt! you givin' me a shot on the inside. it's soft in there! it's like tattoos here [pointing to the inside of his bicep] tattoos on softer areas hurt more. waaahhhh"i gave him the shot
and he was like, "DID YOU GIVE IT TO ME ALREADY?!!! THAT'S AMAZING! YOU HAVE GOOD HANDS! I DIDN'T FEEL NO PAIN!"
i think he says that to me every time. what a drama queen.
today he went a little over the top though. after we finished, he passed the stickers and pointed to them. i was like, "do you want one?"
and then he nods.
so i'm like "which one?"
then he points to the nemo roll
and the sticker on the end of the roll is dory.
so i rip it off for him and he points to his shirt, "can you stick it on my jacket for me?"
seriously?
so i peel off dory and stick it on his jacket.
maybe he didn't have much of a childhood.
so he's compensating.
which might be a good explanation for why he went to prison. (the not having a childhood part.)
-T missed a lot of appointments. but she actually showed up today. she really wants new dentures. sadly, we have a rule that if patients miss too many appointments we won't do their dentures for them. she pleaded and pleaded with me. she told me she missed her appointments because her daughter had gastric bypass surgery and had to have 3 subsequent surgeries to correct some complications. of course i empathize that it's a stressful situation. but she's clearly trying to manipulate me. i told her i would ask admin if we can make an exception for her and will call with an update. she just kept repeating her story over and over. kinda like how people think that by talking in a louder voice, their listeners will understand, even if they don't understand the speaker's language. haha. 'do you speak english? DO. YOU. SPEAK. ENGLISH?'
there are a few things that would jade people in this situation.
1. my tax dollars going into medicaid that are prolly paying for her daughter's gastric bypass. gastric bypass as a result of obesity as a result of poor diet choices/poor lifestyle choices.
2. my tax dollars going into medicaid that would cover her dentures.
dentures as a result of premature tooth loss as a result of poor diet/poor hygiene.
3. there's no verbal commitment to behaviour change in terms of her agreeing to come to all her appointments or call 24 hrs in advance if she needs to cancel
4. she just doesn't get it that an appointment doesn't mean "maybe i'll come! if i feel like coming, that's great! if i don't come, i won't feel bad about standing you up." versus "thank you for giving me some time in your schedule to do this service?"
i'm not jaded yet.
but sometimes i think about it.
------------------
speaking of manipulation.
-M returned and asked for more percocet. i get the sense that she tries to suck up to me a lot. i don't doubt that she's in pain. but it's interesting how she's subtly requesting drugs, but overdoing the subtlety that it's totally not subtle.
--------------------
-after all the nonsense of the day i was glad to have a cute 11 yr old to wrap things up. while she was waiting for me, we could hear her talking to a friend on her cell phone. she sounded like an adult talking to her friend. and when i finally walked in the room she goes, "hey, i gotta call yall back. later. bye."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)