"A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her baby in the
cab!" I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and
began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several
cabs, and I was in the wrong one. Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Antonio , TX
At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and
slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," I
instructed. "Yes, they used to be," remorsed the patient.
Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA
One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her
husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes l
ater, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a
"massive internal fart."
Dr. Susan Steinberg , Manitoba, Canada
I was performing a complete physical, including the visual acuity test. I
placed the patient twenty feet from the chart and began, "Cover your right
eye with your hand." He read the 20/20 line perfectly. "Now your left."
Again, a flawless read. "Now both," I requested. There was silence.
He couldn't even read the large E on the top line. I turned and discovered
that he had done exactly what I had asked; he was standing there with both
his eyes covered. I was laughing too hard to finish the exam.
Dr. Matthew Theodropolous, Worcester , MA
During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he
informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his
medications. "Which one?" I asked. "The patch. The nurse told me to put on a
new one every six hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!" I had
him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see...Yes, the man
had over fifty patches on his body! Now the instructions include removal of
the old patch before applying a new one.
Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk, VA
While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, "How long have
you been bedridden?" After a look of complete confusion she answered..."Why,
not for about twenty years-when my husband was alive."
Dr. Steven Swanson, Corvallis, OR
I was caring for a woman from Kentucky and asked, "So how's your breakfast
this morning?" "It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem
to get used to the taste," the patient replied.
I then asked to see the jelly and the woman produced a foil packet labeled
"KY Jelly."
Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit, MI
A Nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room, when a young woman with purple
hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and
wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient
had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery. When
she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that
her pubic hair had been dyed green, and above it there was a tattoo that
read, "Keep off the grass." Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote
a short note on the patient's dressing, which said, "Sorry, had to mow the
lawn".
