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Dr. Nose Ring

Friday, August 21, 2009


Let me start off by saying, I have nothing against nose rings. I've had mine pierced twice actually, but... have you ever been treated by a doctor with a nose ring? From now on if I see a doctor wearing a nose ring, I'm going to run. Doctors with nose rings, if you're reading this, take it out while you're at work, for my sake, please. I'll have no reason to fear you if its not in.

The other day I posted a little note about my having what I thought was a sinus infection, remember? I posted the pretty picture of the netti pot, tra la la, it was just a quick little- well anyways, as the day went on, things got worse. Much worse. The pressure in my face became unbearable, the dizziness surrounding my eyes turned into mind crushing madness, I forced myself into the doctors office. The second my husband got home from work, I drove myself down to the walk-in clinic (the hospital on base only has daily openings for active duty, they appreciate us spouses, really) to be seen right away. I've been to every walk-in clinic in town, more than once. They've all got a file for me.

I'm not usually too quick to judge, but when the doctor came in, I was pretty sure it could only go one of two ways. Either she was super hip, with her nose ring and short spiky hair, or she wasn't. She asked what was going on, I explained as quickly as possible, since she was acting as if she was in a huge rush, and then not even 3 minutes later she was out of my room, and finished with me. Really, lady? That's it? All she had done was looked in my ears, pushed on my face (in one spot, she didn't even give me the typical finger poke facial massage), and said "hmm, yeah its probably sinus related. Let me get you an antibiotic". A nurse came in and handed me the scribbled on paper, and that was that. OK, well, I knew I had a sinus infection to begin with, so it was kind of nice to skip all the nonsense. She knew what she was doing, and I had come in already knowing what was wrong with me. It worked.

Wait a second.

On my way out of the office, while passing back out through the lobby to get to the front door, I saw my must-be-in-a-hurry doctor, chillin' out max and relaxin' all cool with some friends, laughing about god knows what, in a far row of empty chairs. Is that what she had been in a hurry to get to? Is that why she couldn't even listen to all of my symptoms? Kind of lame, but, whatever. I had gotten my golden ticket for the drugs, I just wanted to go home and sleep.

I got into bed as soon as I got home. Clunked my tired legs up the stairs, and collapsed into a pile of blankets. Christopher took Charlie to the store to pick up my antibiotics, and I stayed behind with Eleanore, who I thought would be taking a nap, but got out of her room about 2 minutes after Christopher had left. Christopher later returned with a bottle of rather large blue capsules, and I popped one in my mouth without thinking twice. Bring on the relief! Earlier the nurse had praised me for breastfeeding, so I knew whatever they had given me would be safe for my milk. I decided to read the side effects just for fun, and- wait, what?!

"If you are allergic to penicillin, check with your doctor before taking this medicine".

Well, they had asked me what I was allergic to, they had written it down and circled it (which means I had checked with her, right), and then the doctor had decided to give me this anyways, so... it must be safe? I called Christopher up the stairs, and told him to keep an eye on me, to watch for any kind of allergic reaction, and then I tucked myself under the covers and closed my eyes.

*The middle of the night*
-Nightmares.
-Burning skin.
-Dizziness.
-Complete hysteria.
-Enough sweat to fill a bathtub. I've never seen so much sweat.

Thanks, Dr. Nose Ring, for being in such a big hurry to visit with your friends, and not taking the time to pay attention to the death sentence that you're writing down on paper for me to swallow twice a day. Please take note of my sincere appreciation.

When I went back the next day, explaining to the nurse what was happening (still dripping sweat, skin flaring red, pounding pain in my back), they put an urgent stamp on my forehead, threw me in a room right away, and skipped other patients to knock on my door. And oh good, its the same lady. But something was different about her this time. Oh... she wasn't wearing her nose ring, or her casual Wednesday outfit. She was wearing an actual doctors coat, and speaking in a tone as if she cared. Also, this time around, I noticed that the tips of her fingernails were a zebra print (maybe they had been the day before too, I just didn't notice because I was too busy staring at the fact that my doctor had a nose ring). Not the cool kind of zebra print either, the tacky Texas kind of zebra print (do you know what I'm talking about). She gave me an "uh oh" and a "that's not good", then handed me a plastic cup and pointed me towards the potty. I just called it 'potty', out of habit. That's how much of a Mom I've become. Wow.

Not only did I have an allergic reaction to the medicine that she had given me (duh), but I had gained a bladder infection to boot. It just keeps getting better, doesn't it? Man I'm so glad that she listened to all of my symptoms the first time I had seen her, and that she had payed attention to what my body will and will not tolerate.

Again, thanks, Dr. Nose Ring. A zebra print tipped thumbs up to you, lady.

15 comments:

This Little Bird August 21, 2009 at 3:57 PM  

I'll make sure to skip the Nose Ring doctor next time I'm at the clinic.. ha ha.. hope your feeling better soon.

Marie August 21, 2009 at 4:54 PM  

I shake my fist at her! For shame!

[and oh, yes; i know THAT zebra print...]

Angela August 21, 2009 at 5:53 PM  

Oh, Jesus. This kind of stuff makes me INSANE. Please tell me you called her and reamed her out!

Zu-Li Designs August 21, 2009 at 9:09 PM  

That's absolutely terrible. She should be fired! She risked your life to hang out with her friends. Zebra middle finger to her!

Carrie August 22, 2009 at 12:20 AM  

I really don't understand what you are saying here. You were treated by someone who happened to have a nose ring and who happened to make a mistake. Therefore ALL doctors with nose rings are idiots?

I suppose the next logical assumption is that all professionals who have mores than 4 years of university and who have nose rings are idiots.

Would you be saying the same thing if the doctor happened to be African/Mexican/Chinese/etc.?

Let's see: "Let me start off by saying, I have nothing against Koreans. I've been to Korea twice actually... but have you ever been treated by a Korean doctor? From now on if I see a doctor who is Korean, I'm going to run. Korean doctors, if you are reading this, wear some skin bleach while you're at work, for my sake, please. I'll have no reason to fear you if you (look like a stereotypical, um, white, safe, boring doctor.....)."

I'm really sorry that you had such a scary experience, but I fail to see what having a nose ring has to do with it. She behaved unprofessionally and failed to notice your allergy (did you mention it to her -- she'd never seen you before, right? Doctors aren't gods, sometimes they forget to ask the right questions or read everyone's file super duper thoroughly; everyone has a responsibility for their own health care, too) and made a very big, potentially life-threatening, mistake. I know there are other doctors out there, WITHOUT NOSE RINGS, who do the same thing. There are incompetent professionals all over the place. What's your plan to protect yourself against incompetent doctors without facial jewels?

I'm really stunned by the prejudicial, close-minded judgments you have made based on someone's appearance. Have you been so lucky as to never had anyone treat you like crap or assume you are stupid because of your tattoos or piercings? If so, you are either extremely lucky or extremely naive.

Tia Colleen August 22, 2009 at 9:36 AM  

Carrie, while I appreciate your sincere taking of offense, I think its a shame that you apparently have no sense of humor at all.

xx Tia

Marie August 22, 2009 at 10:32 AM  

Carrie, in every professional job I've held, there has been certain standards I've had to follow in order to project a certain image. If I had to take out piercings to file papers, surely a DOCTOR could do the same before meeting with her patients? A nose ring is something that can be removed, that was added to her face for her recreational enjoyment. The fact that she didn't remove it might not make her a bad doctor, but it does shine a little light on where her priorities lie...

Doctors are human, and they do make mistakes... especially when they're preoccupied with looking cool, hanging out with their friends, and where their lunch date will be.

And seriously? What does this have to do with race? Skin bleaching? Fear of Koreans? I really don't get it. I think my crazy fuse just blew.

I'd like to make a joke about everyone knowing that Koreans can't be doctors... but I'm pretty sure someone would miss the humor. Or agree with me... *shudder*

jessicajane August 22, 2009 at 2:18 PM  

someone's got their panties all in a bunch!

a lot of doctors are foreign, so that "statement" was dumb. and to pull in the race card was even more dumb.

i <3 dumb people.

OliveStreetStudio August 22, 2009 at 4:18 PM  

I hope after round 2 with the clinic that you're feeling better today. Regardless of the nose-ring, or gender - or ethnicity- the doctor should be a professional to his/her patients - and it didn't sound like she was during round 1 - and that is what sucks bc you ended up feeling worse as a result.

Sarah August 22, 2009 at 6:59 PM  

I went to the vag doctor today because my IUD is causing me pain in my uterus and I have a lump on my left side right about ohhh, ovary location, right? So she did a pelvic exam, checked the strings on my IUD, pressed around on my abdomen, checked to see if my repair wasn't "sewn up too tight" after I complained about painful sex after delivery...

Her response??

It's your colon, you need to poop.

UM, HI. Not to bee overly graphic, but I am a vegetarian and I shit like 5 times a day. And needing to poop wouldn't make my vag hurt during sex. It is NOT my colon.

Thanks though, for the free molestation, Dr. Incompetent. GOD! She must've been Korean.

Marie August 22, 2009 at 10:04 PM  

can't. stop. laughing. :)

Anonymous,  August 23, 2009 at 3:40 PM  

Jesus, I'd own that practice. I just went through something similar with my MD.

Fuckstick.

And LMFAO about the poops.=D

Lindsay Rose August 24, 2009 at 3:12 AM  

oh I am so mad reading this....only in Abilene, a doctor with a nose ring and zebra print fingernails. It's that clinic by the mall I bet, I used to hate going there. I hope you gave her the what for.

Tia Colleen August 24, 2009 at 8:50 AM  

Christopher loves everyones comments. Every time he comes to the computer he sits down to check and see if there are any new one, followed by lol'ing.

Thank you everyone, for your get well wishes. I'm feeling much better now, as far as allergic reactions go. My infections however, are still here. I only have 2 days left of my antibiotics, and unless they work thier magic and FAST, I might be going back to zebra paw for more.

Marie August 25, 2009 at 5:03 AM  

*gasp!*

Never, NEVER go back there!

-and really? now that christopher doesn't have to study for his promotion he just sits around all day, eating gluten-free treats, checking blog comments and working on his screen play? HAHAHAHAHA!

Awesome.

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