From the office of...

Good morning! I'm writing this AM from my new office at my very own Disability Physical consulting firm (actually, my wife owns it, I'm just an employee...take that, gender roles!). My wife and I decided that it would be in our best interest to part ways with the old disability place, and now, 1.5 months later, I'm proud to be sitting at a new desk, in a freshly painted, climate controlled room, with nary a spider in sight. As you can imagine, it's taken quite some gumption and hard work to get this place up and running in such a short time, so you'll have to forgive my writing absence. We started seeing patients yesterday morning, and I must say, it's so different working at your own place. I actually get a little excited coming to work in the morning...but I'm sure that will wear off once the newness passes. Or maybe not, who knows?


Anyway, the patients so far have been pretty normal, with the exception of one individual, whose story I will relay to you presently. Mr. Genericfakename schlumped into the office yesterday morning, smelling of mildew and cat pee, wearing a bright t-shirt with what I think used to be the Brazilian flag emblazed across the front, but had since been dissolved in a miasma of mustard, pickle relish and mud (I hope) stains. He physically fit the bill of the stereotypical computer…guy – obese, frontal balding, tiny, tiny glasses. His chief complaint was "Asthma and computer skills." How those two go together, I don't know...maybe there's a new syndrome I haven't heard of. Anyway, he stated that he "couldn't breath good, and I can't work the computer." After some further questioning, he stated that typing for more than eight hours caused his hands to cramp, and he stated that by the end of the day, he couldn't even press his inhaler because his hands hurt so much. I asked him if he was currently working, and he stated "no, but if you mean working the computer, then yes I work." ....Well...ok. He further went on to say that "I used to be on Amazon or EBAY all day, but now I can't buy anything, and my hands hurt." Well, we proceeded to the physical exam, which aside from some normal asthmatic lung findings, was totally normal. I thanked him for his time, and as he left the room, he asked if I could email him a copy of the exam. I told him no.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you're going to be on the computer all day, you should probably take care of your hands. In this digital age, good ergonomic support is important...especially if you don't want to miss your winning bid on EBAY.

And now for the quote of the day:
Me: "So tell me about your diabetes."

Woman: "All I know is that when I my sugar gets low, I gotta go drink some sweet tea. Then I feel better, until I have to go to the hospital because I feel bad."

Me: "...Alright."

Have a good one,
-DD