Real Conversations

Real Conversation # 1

Patient's Mother:  Um, yeah, my son had his finger poked for a blood test this morning while he was in your office and he's felt sick and thrown up twice since then.  Is that normal?

Me:  Well ... no, that's not normal.  Is your son very upset about having had his finger poked?

PM:  Yeah, he was pretty upset and crying a lot.

Me:  I'd guess that he's probably fixating on the finger poke.  Or maybe it's purely coincidental and he is coming down with a stomach virus.

PM:  Oh.  So what do I do?



Real Conversation # 2

Concerned Grandmother:  If someone plays with an infant, say 7 or 8 months old, by dangling them by their ankles, can it cause brain damage?

Me:  I suppose it could.  I definitely wouldn't recommend doing that.

CG:  What could happen?

Me:  Well, there could be brain damage.  Or maybe stress fractures in the baby's legs or spine.  The spinal cord in infants isn't developed enough to handle lots of stress like that.

CG:  So how would you know if there was damage?

Me:  You might not know.  It would take x-rays to show fractures.  And if there was brain damage you wouldn't know until it's too late.

CG:  So what should I say to the people who might be doing this?

Me:  Uh, tell them not to do it?