We all have that one patient. That one patient who can always find a way to turn a good day bad, who just knows how to push your buttons in all the wrong ways.
Who’s that patient for me? Let’s just call him Elton Reed.
Oh, Mr. Reed … where to begin with him?
When we first met, I remember being so excited and energized by him. He just had this fresh feeling about him. Not only was he young, handsome and always well-dressed, he was really smart. Finally, someone who actually knew what he was talking about! He could recite for me all of the medications he was taking by heart. Hell — he even carried a list. Not just that, he always had a super-organized portfolio in which he carried the records from all his prior clinic visits and hospitalizations. That way, he told me, I wouldn’t have to ask him for every drug he’d had prescribed or immunization or procedure he’d had done in the past. I was so smitten. He was immediately one of my favorite patients. He just seemed so knowledgeable and savvy. I thought to myself, wow, he’s going to save me so much time and headache, and we’re going to get along just fine.
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