Thursday, October 15, 2009

short story

i like reading random stories online..this short story i've randomly found in certain website (cannot remember which one since i forgot to copy the link..haha)..the story is actually a conversation between a dad and his son..i was browsing through my gazillion folders in my hd when i found this..so i thought maybe i'll share with you..:)


ok now imagine you're watching a scene where two guys ( father and son) hanging out at the coffee table and talk about their life/experience/etc..and the father began to tell his story...check it out~ :)

* read the whole story so you can get the punch line in the end..:P *

"It happened many years ago – back in the dinosaur era - when I did my residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. I was well into my second year and still green behind the ears. You know, relatively new to the environment and learning the ropes. That was the time when you wanted to be as thorough and careful as you possibly could and not make any errors. When you’re new, you tend to be your own worse critic in every aspect. You had colleagues that were more experienced and it was hard to match their perfection at such a short period of time. I was so caught up with the seriousness of the job and doing everything by the book that I’d basically forgotten how to laugh. Everyday was a replica of the day before. It was like the same song just second verse. That was pretty much the case for a while. Then I met a certain patient that showed me how to lighten up.

I met an impressionable patient who showed me it’s ok to not be so serious all the time. Her name was Mabel Bergman. It’s weird that I can recall her name so vividly. You know, I had so many patients that it wasn’t unusual to forget names and faces but somehow I’ve always remembered Mabel. At the time she was forty-five years old. Forty- five going on eighteen – was more like it. There was something very youthful and lively about her. She was a natural at knowing how to break the ice. She wasn’t afraid to reach out and communicate with people – maybe that’s why I remembered her so well. Anyway, Mabel was this really skinny lady about average height with long blond hair pinned up in a big bun on the top of her head.


Mabel lived in SoHo with her boyfriend and they owned a Chihuahua named Tequila. Mabel adored this dog. I mean - she treated him like it was her child. Took him everywhere with her in a little checkered canvas tote bag. She let Tequila have the run of the dance studio. She practically spoiled the dog to death. Well, it was true that Mabel loved Tequila, but I’m not so sure Tequila loved her back equally.


The dog must’ve been in one foul mood that day because when she picked him up and tried to give him a kiss, he bit her on the mouth. And the worse part was the dog refused to let go. So basically, Mabel’s boyfriend had to help pry the dog off her and bring her to the emergency room. It wasn’t anything extremely serious. Just a regular patch and sew up on the same day. Easy job. She didn’t even need to stay overnight.However, the bite had ripped her lip up pretty bad. I believe the abrasion was from her lower lip and mid chin.


Since the split was so bad, we needed to take skin from her buttocks and grafted it onto the cut so her lip could heal properly.Let me explain a little about skin grafting so you can get a feel of what it is. There are two types of skin grafting. The first is called full thickness skin graft and that’s when the graft consists of the epidermis and the whole dermis. Skin is harvested manually with a scalpel and used ideally for small defects. The second is called split thickness skin graft and this consists of the epidermis and not the whole dermis. It could be thin, medium or thick. This piece of skin is harvested with a special instrument called a dermatome and used for larger wounds. Split thickness skin is usually taken from the buttocks or thighs, where as full thickness skin is taken from behind the ear, eyelid, and neck.


Mabel had a split thickness skin graft.I was the one who completed the whole procedure and was very cautious with every step of the way. Afterwards, I explained to Mabel what I did and what she needed to do to take care of it


You know, patients are usually concerned with scarring – especially if the injury is to the face. And I figured that was what she was going to ask. So I broke the news gently to her that she will have a scar on her lower lip but just a small one - hardly noticeable. I was trying to make her feel better. She looked at me with a blank face and said nothing for a while – like she was trying to read me. She finally said with a straight face, “So you mean that skin from my derriere was used to patch up the missing skin on my lip?” I told her – basically, yea. I imagined she was going to cry at the thought of a scar ruining her face, but quite on the contrary, she burst out laughing. Confused, I asked her what was so funny since I obviously missed the joke. Her eyes light up and she said, “I was just thinking. Now, whenever Keith – my boyfriend – kisses me, I can say he’s literally kissing my ass. I couldn’t stop laughing after that."


haha..that's all, take care :)

p/s : suddenly kinda miss writing english essay..somehow i know i'm not gonna be able to do that since i was too lazy to come up with any story/essay ( earth to zima, even your logbook havent finished yet..haha)..and i think my grammar is still broken..badly..:P


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