He was 60-year-old man who underwent surgery for an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) approximately 3 years prior who was returning to the clinic for routine followup. He felt well and had no other complaints.
He was connected to the EKG and the programmer’s wand was placed over the device. I interrogated his device and when the initial screen appeared, there it was — a single shock from his device, received two weeks ago.
“Mr. Smith, are you aware that you had an ICD shock about two weeks ago?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you call us?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did it bother you?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
There was a pause. I looked up from the programmer and took a quick look at him. He was looking away. Instantly, I realized the answer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
The only sure thing about healthcare reform is that it’s going to add to the country’s collective case of bad temper. How can we not feel down for having to go through weeks of listening to partisans of all stripes say anything imaginable to attack the other guys’ arguments?
For at least one day, then, let’s turn down the heat, and look to humor to put smiles back on our faces.
For even-handed skewing of all things Washington, see this link to the “Top Ten Healthcare Reform Jokes,” selected by Daniel Kurtzman from material provided by Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, and others.
My favorite: “The healthcare bill was introduced yesterday. It’s 1,990 pages long and costs $894 billion dollars. Or $2.2 million per word. That makes them the most expensive words to come out of Washington since ‘Mission Accomplished.’” – Jimmy Fallon Read more »
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