We're not supposed to take the things our patients tell us too seriously as doctors. After all, there are the regular sleaze bags, racists, bigots and plain morons - each with their own principles and opinions which differ greatly from your own.
I must admit though, it's always nice when you have patients who understand that you don't ENJOY stabbing them with needles of every size and shape in any available free surface area because of generalized oedema, that you're just as frustrated with poor healing wounds, that you have better things to do than to fill out an endless stream of paperwork for sick leave/compensation; patients who understand that things are a little more complicated some times than they seem and are happy to give you a little breathing space to figure things out.
And then, there are patients like the 72 year old gentleman on the ward today whom all the nurses and wardies love for good reason. "My favourite little doctor," he smiles, " Has anyone told you just how pretty you are? I sure hope they have," as attempt to stab his thigh with an 18G needle and a nurse changes the fourth bag draining bilious green fluid from his nasogastic tube. How could you not take a patient like that personally? It is hard to be completely objective sometimes.
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