Favorite Comment of the Week

A nice looking guy steps up to the pharmacy counter and proceeds to tell me his stomach has been hurting and he's not sure what to do about it.

"What did your doctor say about the stomach pain?" I ask. This is useful in two ways. First, it gets the message out real clear that he needs to be seeing a doctor for something that sounds serious and second, it gives a bigger clue as to what's actually going on for me to give my advice.

"I have not seen a doctor," he replies.  

Ok, that's fine. Maybe it just started hurting today after all the meals from the holidays. I thought about the day I was born. My mother tried to wake up my father to tell him it was time to go to the hospital. "Roll over! It's just gas!" my father told her. I was born three hours later. Apparently I'm just gas.

But back to the patient. Ok, he doesn't look poor. He's dressed in nice clothes. He has an expensive watch on his wrist. (I want that watch. I envy that watch...) I don't see why he wouldn't see a doctor, even if he had to pay cash.

"How long has it been hurting?" I ask.

"For 2-3 years."

I don't get it. You've got some serious pain, you have money to see a doctor, but you don't go? I just don't get it.

I advised him to go see the doctor since it's been that long, ALTHOUGH what I really wanted to say was "Well, wait 2-3 years and see if it resolves on its own."