Tower Of Babel

I had a visit from one of my favourite ‘bredren’ patients today. This is the same one who had given me a bottle of Appleton VX about 2 months ago. I was happy to see him as usual. However, from he came and sat down in the chair, I could see that he was not his usual happy self, ready to get the medical stuff out of the way and then, ’shoot the shit’ with me as usually is the case. He looked a bit worried and he even appeared to have lost a little weight since I last saw him. He has Psoriasis (pronounced soriasis as the P is silent, like the W in wKen). So, I sent him to undress and look his skin over. He was doing far worse than the last time I saw him when his skin was almost clear. Hmph! I wasn’t happy and he really looked concerned. Anyhow, I told him to dress up and come back to the chair so I could finish talking with him.

He went on to tell me that he was having some problems with his brother who lied to the Police saying that he had hit him causing him bodily harm. Now, he denies this and I’m tempted to believe him, perhaps because we have such a great rapport as Doc. and Patient. (But then again, he could be telling the truth.) The long and short of it, is that he has to appear in court to answer the charge this week. Now, it’s well known to all Psoriasis patients, that an increase in stressors can cause the skin lesions to flare. Though we may not be able to explain this scientifically, I have seen it occur.

I managed to chat some male talk with him to get his mind off the problem for a while. I think I was successful. I told him to give me a call after the court case on Thursday. I even offered to buy him a drink after work, but he lives out of Kingston and it’s a fairly long drive home. He promised to accept the offer at a later date. We knocked fists and he left with the usual prescription.

If all my patients and I had this kind of rapport, then I would truly find Medicine a fun way to make a living. Alas, this is not always the case. I hope all works out for him with the court case, and that his Psoriasis will be improving the next time he comes to clinic. I guess that it’s just a reminder that life isn’t always “cool runnins” (easy going), it does have its problems every now and again. It’s how you are capable of cushioning yourself against them, when they come, that can make the difference.

Well, this morning, I was quite surprised to turn the TV on before I stepped into the shower, only to hear that the second half of Germany vs. Korea was just starting. I totally thought that the first semifinal match was tomorrow, hence I was taken aback. Well, unfortunately, Korea’s quest to make the finals was thwarted by the resilient Germans. Damn. I felt sorry for Korea as they were doing marvellously for themselves.

I will most definitely be watching my Brazilians in action against Turkey tomorrow. It should be a hell of a match. I guess the tempo builds up to the final on Sunday. Then all those of you who don’t give a fart about World Cup will be able to read my blog posts again.

Hey, it’s really hot here. Today, it was 32 Celsius in Jamaica, scorching! On account of this I put a Red Stripe Beer into the freezer when I got home from work. I flipped the cap after my dinner and used it to wash the food down. Do you know those beers that are so cold, that when you flip the cap off, it freezes for the most part? Yeah, one of those, damn good. Needless to say, I released one of those Earth shattering man sized belches that usually follows the rapid imbibition of beer. Felt great coming out. I’m really feeling at ease now and it’s starting to cool down as I feel the breeze coming off the hills near my home. Anyhow, I’m chatting too much, it’s time to hold a fresh (shower), so let me go bathe the sweat from my abdominal workout off as I’m starting to stink! Later.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 25th, 2002 at 9:23 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.