Foot-In-Mouth Disease

Ladies and gents-

Have you ever, without thinking, accidentally made an inappropriate, off-color, or simply idiotic comment to your doctor or nurse that angered them, offended them, caught them off guard, weirded them out, made them look at you funny, or bust out laughing?

Have you ever been on the receiving end of such comments, either from a patient or medical staffer?

The closest I've come is the reflexive response: "I'm doing well, how are you?" when asked how I'm feeling. Some doctors and nurses I've seen have seemed surprised by that.

At the GP's surgery

He said "how are you today?"

"Crap" was my response

His look said it all. Tell it as it is, that's my motto.

A few times when the doctor has asked me how things are, in a general way or as a sort of friendly greeting, I´ve said something (rather lame) like ¨not very well, otherwise i wouldn´t be here.¨

Luckily they usually understand the attempt at humor and know that most people aren´t at their best when they consult a doctor.

After auscultation with some prolonged fast deep breathing by the PA of my orthopaedic surgeon I chuckled and smiled really big. I had just done very heavy breathing at his request. My mom was with me. I was there for some intercostal steroid injections next to my sternum. He asked what I was thinking. I asked if he was familiar with the movie When Harry Met Sally with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. He said yes. I told him one of the most famous scenes from this movie came to mind when I was breathing for the auscultation he was doing. He smiled, paused, and asked what scene. I replied "I'll have what she is having". We all had a good laugh and repeated this to my surgeon when he came in to give me the injections. We have all known each other for a VERY long time and are able to joke around and have a lot of fun at the same time. We all agree that "laughter is the best medicine".

Here is the clip from the movie. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0OeM6UUAoI