Thread by @gradydoctor

1/
Grady wards

Him: “I got a bone to pick with you.”
Me: “Me?”
Him: “You.”

He pointed at me for emphasis.

Him: “I’m not so sure I like how you was talking ‘bout me.”

I sifted through my head to try to think of any verbal missteps. I waited to see what he’d say next.

2/
Him: “I know you said y’all was gon’ do some ‘shop talking’ about me. But look like you forgot I was even there when you got to saying what you was gon’ say.”

I felt my face grow warm. I decided to just keep listening.

Him: “You talking ‘bout some ‘That’s impressive!’”

3/
Wait. Was that the bad part?

My brow furrowed and I pressed my lips together. He went on.

Him: “But like, I knew from how you said it that you ain’t mean impressive in a good way. I mean, not how most things that impress a person impress ‘em.”

*listening*

4/
Him: “And to be honest? I liked that y’all was talking right in front of me. But something ‘bout what you seen on me being ‘impressive’ and my rash being ‘angry’ made me scared.”

He sucked his teeth and sighed.

Him: “I ain’t like that shit.”

My eyes began to prickle.

5/
Me: “Damn. I’m so sorry, sir.”

Even though my voice was tiny, I meant that.

Him: “I know y’all be in the zone doing the doctor thang. But shit! I’m right here and I want to know what’s going on, too!”

*silence*

I held his gaze and gave a slow nod.

Me: “I’m sorry.”

6/
I pulled up the bedside chair and sat.

Me: “Can I do some shop talking with you, sir?”

This made him smile. I smiled back.

Me: “Okay. So when we were first talking about your leg and they described it being red, what I saw seemed like more than I was expecting.”

7/
I gently peeled back the covers to expose his lower leg propped up on a pillow.

Me: “So there’s this thing called ‘cellulitis.’ It’s a skin infection and it’s super common. It makes your skin red and warm and kind of hard to the touch. You with me?”
Him: *nods*

8/
Me: “So that’s what I was expecting to see.”
Him: “But it IS red and hot and hard to the touch, ain’t it?”
Me: “I mean, yeah. But like, you see how it’s raised up a lot almost like a cliff and extra red? That’s more than what I’m used to seeing in cellulitis.”
Him: “Hmmm.”

9/
Me: “So that word I used—‘impressive’—was me trying to say that to my team. But I shouldn’t have.”
Him: “I mean, you COULD say it. But not just say it and leave it, you know?”
Me: *nods* “Yeah.”

*pause*

Him: “Damn. That rash DO look angry at somebody!”

*laughter*

10/
And so. We talked some more about cellulitis and differential diagnoses for the really angry variety. I admitted that I didn’t remember much about this thing called erysipelas but maybe it could be that.

But maybe not.

And I showed him a picture to see what he thought.

11/
Him: “I don’t know if mine is THAT impressive.”

That made both of us laugh out loud—hard. And all of it was good.

Very good.

So our ID & Derm colleagues saw that rash and weren’t convinced of it being erysipelas.

But, according to him, they DID find it impressive.

12/
Him: “2 different people asked if I ate oysters.”
Me: “Yeah?”
Him: “I said, ‘Oxtails? Yes. Oysters? Naw.’”

And that made us laugh some more.

Yup.

With IV antibiotics, his leg improved. And, thanks to that feedback, his doctor improved, too.

Yeah.

#humanismalways 💛