The Return of the Difficult Patient

He came back today. The guy who called me 'honey' and wouldn't accept my diagnosis that his cough was viral. For a refresher, click here.

I was ready for him this time. I wasn't going to put up with being spoken down to, or condescended to. I'm a lot more confident now than I was 11 months ago when we first met.

It was easy. He was just constipated. I took a focused history, examined him, and wrote him a script for Lactulose. I told him to keep taking the Colace he had tried to avoid future logjams. It was, all in all, a very civilized exchange. He thanked me for my advice, and I turned to leave the room.

"I hope this works," he said as he reached for the doorknob, "I mean, you're a really cute chick and all, sweetheart, but I don't wanna have to come back."

Sigh. So close.