Praise and Poop

Recently, my wife and I were flipping through the channels one night before bed, and stumbled upon one of those Mega-Church Televangelists. Normally, we would have kept channel surfing, but for some reason we stopped and listened to the last part of his message. The subject of the sermon was blessings and the power they have to change lives. He relayed multiple stories about how blessing someone could heal the sick, defeat drug addiction and so on, and stated that people should continually tell others how much they mean to them. He especially mentioned that parents should let their children know that they're proud of them, and that they are truly a gift from God. I thought about the people I see on an almost daily basis at either disability or at the Juvie, and wondered if their parents had told them "I'm proud of you," or even "I love you." My conclusion was probably not. Personally, I know that if someone says, "hey, you're doing a really good job at that," or "I really appreciate your hard work," I'll usually work that much harder at the task I'm doing. I know that it may seem superficial, but I'm a glutton for praise, and deep down, I think most people are too. With that in mind, I set out this week to try and "praise" at least one of my patients...something that, as you might imagine, is difficult to do when their ideas and activities contradict your own almost 100% of the time.

Today was like any cold day at Disability Physicals - lots of late-comers and cancellations. The first claimant showed up 30 minutes late, didn't apologize for being late, and wanted to get disability because she had back pain...which started when she was pregnant. She had since delivered a healthy baby, and admitted that the pain was a lot less. Amazing.  As I was finishing her exam, I began to notice a strange smell coming from the waiting room. A group of four large individuals had waddled through the door, and I overheard one of them say, "Hey, this place smells like old people."  The post-partum pain patient left, and in walked a 5'1'', 288 lbs lady, reeking of feces and cigarettes, her unsupported bosom hanging below her waistline, and stretching the Tinker Bell on her shirt into some grotesque female Jolly Green Giant. She took a seat in the chair, and told me she was applying for disability because "I got the squirts all the time." Biting my tongue, I proceeded to ask her all about her bowel history, and she gave me around five Disability Quotes of the Day in the first 30 seconds of the interview. Proceeding through her history, she told me that she had been smoking three packs a day (that's 60 cigarettes, or one every 12 minutes if you account for 8 hours of sleep), but had dropped to one pack a day, because she was concerned about her health. In addition, she had dropped 100 pounds since last year. Aha! I thought to myself, here is my chance to praise someone. I told her, "that's excellent that you've decided to take charge of your own health, and I'm really proud of you that you've cut down to just one pack a day." She responded, "Well, I know it's bad for me, but you know, soon it'll be 1/2 a pack, then 1/4 of a pack, then none. I'm going to do it, just you wait and see!"

As a physician, one aspect of my job is being a cheerleader for my patient's health.  While I doubt my little "I'm proud of you," made much impact on this lady's desire to quit smoking, if everyone in her life gave her the same positive feedback, who knows, maybe she would be tobacco free by now. The power of praise is immense, and we as people, parents, physicians, whatever, need to embrace that power. They say that "behind every great man is a great woman," and while that adage might not always hold true, especially in today's society, I do believe that behind every great person is at least one "believer," who told them, "don't quit, I'm proud of you."

And now, the Disability Quote(s) of the Day:

"I get this pain under my left boobie...a lot."

"Nothing makes my diarrhea any better, not even lettuce."

"I hit myself, and then get angry because it hurts."

Plant a seed,

-DD