30 minutes in… I decided to distract myself with some light reading. Steele and I flipped through a local magazine and poked fun at all the advertisements by local businesses. One of the ads we came across was this one.
Steele says, “I find it ironic that the addiction recovery center has weed for its logo.”
I must say, I sort of enjoy the fact that my nearly 15 year old son couldn’t identify marijuana even if it were labeled. Good sign…moving on.
1 hour in to waiting time and my left leg began to tingle. I must’ve switched positions 20 times with no success in preventing my butt from falling asleep. I tried to focus on something else to get my mind off of the current situation…not a good idea.
One lady was jamming out to Lady Gaga on her iPhone while her litter of unkempt children ran wild ripping up newspaper and snotting all over the furniture. Another sat snoring next to her over-grown child as he picked his nose and examined his findings (save it for the ENT buddy cause I didn’t need the show). An elderly man muttered complaints under his breath as his wife copied recipes from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine…
Dear God, please deliver me from waiting room hell…thank you.
1.5 hours in and the magic words rang out from the restricted area, “The doctor is ready to see you!” Yay! Our turn! Our turn! We were promptly escorted to a smaller room where we knew the wait would continue. Determined not to lose my mind or my temper, I began looking for things to entertain us. Steele began wildly spinning in his chair as I rifled through cabinets and drawers. Alcohol prep pads? Well don’t mind if I do! Those things are GREAT for cleaning surfaces and they’re sooo portable. Next drawer…
Steele: What in the WORLD is all that?!
Me: Those are the tools the doctor uses I guess
Steele: I don’t know where he thinks he’s gonna stick THAT thing, but wherever it is, I object.
Next drawer…Oh My Gosh…JACKPOT! It was a brand new, sleek and shiny temple touch thermometer! Oh how times have changed since I was a child and your temp was taken *ahem* elsewhere. Immediately we began playing with the device and I registered my very first tech savvy temp reading…
Me: 86.4 degrees…WHAT?! That can’t be right! I would be a cold stiff corpse. Try it again.
Steele: That’s not bad. It IS cold in this room
Me: I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to have a body temp below 97 or something
Steele: Here, let’s retry
Me: 86.4, 86.7, 84.5. Oh Lord it’s getting worse!
Steele: And that was the day mom discovered she was a zombie
A quick knock and the door began to open. I quickly tossed the defective gadget on the table next to me and greeted the doctor. During his exam, he asked if I had any questions…and for some reason only one thing came to mind.
Me: Well, what is the lowest body temperature you can have without your major organs shutting down and death occurring?
Stunned look from the nurse
Doctor: Without what? Are you planning on freezing yourself later?
Me: No, I was just curious. (Obviously I couldn’t explain the source of my curiosity without disclosing the fact that I had played with his broken toys)
Doctor: (laughing nervously now) Well, I’m not really sure to be honest.
Steele: Yeah mom, he’s just the ear, nose and throat doctor not a coroner.
Me: Oh well, I just thought it might be a common knowledge thing among doctors.
Doctor: Okay, do you have any questions regarding the treatment options?
Me: Yes. What were they again?
After discussing treatment plans with the doctor, I rose to shake his hand and our attention was drawn to the 3 alcohol prep packets that fell on the floor between us. I was all, “Umm, they’re really handy for cleaning surfaces.” And he’s all, “No big deal, everyone likes to take some home after visits.” And I’m all, “Like a good patient reward or something!” And he says, “Well in that case I’ll have to ask you to return yours.”
Ha ha Dr. Witty. Keep laughing at your own little jokes. We’re all VERY amused. I’m thinking about finding another ENT for future visits. I’m not sure we made the best impression on this one.
