A friend told me an old boy came in with a large laceration on his arm. Suturing it up took over an hour, but can be quite fun as you can chat to the patients. My friend was engrossed talking to him about his experiences in the Second World War and really enjoyed treating him. The old chap was in good spirits throughout and told him lots of interesting stories about his time behind enemy lines or in trenches in Flanders.
After he put the last stitch in, my friend started clearing up and found the local anaesthetic bottle, unopened. He realised he'd not put any local in at all and yet the guy didn't once flinch leave aside complain. When asked why he didn't say anything, he just said "oh I thought that's how it's supposed to feel. I didn't mind. Lovely chatting to you", then walked out.
Don't make 'em how they used to.
Lignocaine edit: Spoke to my friend last night. I totally didn't do this story justice! The laceration was sustained in a machete attack. Two guys tried to break in to the man's house and one slashed at him but he fought them off long enough until a neighbor started to run over and they scarpered. Such a relevant detail, how could I have forgotten? He had to clean the wound out thoroughly which is even more painful than suturing. And to those of you pointing out the Flanders inaccuracy, that's purely my incorrect paraphrasing. It was WW2, so ignore the trench comment. I'll refrain from the obvious "I'm a doctor Jim, not a historian" line. Or perhaps I won't.
After he put the last stitch in, my friend started clearing up and found the local anaesthetic bottle, unopened. He realised he'd not put any local in at all and yet the guy didn't once flinch leave aside complain. When asked why he didn't say anything, he just said "oh I thought that's how it's supposed to feel. I didn't mind. Lovely chatting to you", then walked out.
Don't make 'em how they used to.
Lignocaine edit: Spoke to my friend last night. I totally didn't do this story justice! The laceration was sustained in a machete attack. Two guys tried to break in to the man's house and one slashed at him but he fought them off long enough until a neighbor started to run over and they scarpered. Such a relevant detail, how could I have forgotten? He had to clean the wound out thoroughly which is even more painful than suturing. And to those of you pointing out the Flanders inaccuracy, that's purely my incorrect paraphrasing. It was WW2, so ignore the trench comment. I'll refrain from the obvious "I'm a doctor Jim, not a historian" line. Or perhaps I won't.