I've been spending the last month at an outpatient clinic in a small, rural clinic affiliated with my residency program. While the vast majority of patients I see perseverate on a stuffy nose like its the black plague, occasionally there is a patient that offers a rare - and much needed - breath of fresh air. My most recent example of this came in the form a frail, 76-year old woman with a list of medical problems longer then my white coat. Regardless, she's the pleasantly demented patient that makes everybody laugh - including a pessimistic, 20-something physician. Below is an excerpt of our conversation.
Patient: "You know doc I'm feelin mighty fine. Todays even the first day I've driven in the last two months!"
Me (surprised): "Wow, you're driving. You must be feeling better."
Patient: "Yeah, I can actually see now.....well at least in my right eye, my left is still blurry. But I can see the signs now."
Me: "Well, how did you drive if you couldn't see signs?"
Patient: "Slowly."
I was laughing so hard the nurse came in to see what the commotion was.