“Um…what did you say?”
Burt took note of his patient’s inattentiveness and repeated the question.
“I vomited a couple of times.”
George was squirming. His answers were getting short and abrupt, so Burt chose to scrutinize the history form again for any other pertinent information and said, “That’s about all the questions I have now, Mr. Gilmer. Strip down to your shorts and I’ll be back in a minute.”
Surveying the room again, George saw three diplomas on the wall and a picture of a man seated at the bedside of a sick child. The picture, titled The House Call prompted a “Hmm,” from George. He smirked. A framed collection of antique fishing lures hung next to the picture. He was still scanning the room when he realized that the doctor’s minute was stretching into two, then four, then six. He struck his left palm with his right fist. He was struggling to suppress the desire to leave when Burt returned and observed his patient’s agitation. “Sorry, but I got a call from the emergency room. I had to be sure everything was okay.”
George stared with unchanged expression.
Burt performed a complete physical examination and then told George to get dressed. “When you’re ready, just open the door and I’ll come right back.” George got back in his clothes and this time Burt kept his word.
“What do you think?” asked George.
“Your physical examination didn’t give me any real clues, and that’s the good news.”
“How about my stomach. What do you think is wrong?”
“My first guess would be an ulcer.”
The wife was right as usual, thought George.
Burt continued. “There are other possibilities such as an inflamed stomach, a hiatus hernia, an inflamed esophagus, inflamed gall bladder and other upper abdominal problems. But, my money lies with the ulcer. We need imaging studies to be certain, and we need blood tests to rule-out some other rare possibilities that can cause you to have these kind of symptoms.”
“What about my stomach pain? What can I take for that?”
“Here’s a prescription. It will cut down the acid that your stomach makes and help with the pain. Take it morning and evening, twelve hours apart. You could also take the antacids if you need them. This paper I’ll give you tells you what you shouldn’t eat until we find out what’s causing your problem. Take this order slip to the outpatient department and schedule the blood and urine tests and imaging studies. You’ll get instructions. In the meantime, don’t drink any alcohol, don’t miss any meals, don’t take any aspirin and don’t miss any doses of the medicine.” Burt wrote the instructions out on his letterhead.
George felt calmer. If medicine could fix the ulcer, he thought, who needs all these tests? He extended his hand to Burt. “Thanks, doctor.”
“Make an appointment to see me after the tests are complete. It was good meeting you, Mr. Gilmer.”
George took the prescription to the pharmacy but didn’t schedule the tests, electing to see how things went. After a twenty-minute delay at the pharmacy where he paced back and forth while waiting, he realized that since he developed this problem he’d been losing his cool a lot. Maybe that’s why I’m getting an ulcer, he thought. He received his prescription and returned home.
“Well, how’d it go?” asked Gail.
“Good, he’s a nice guy. He gave me some medicine.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said I’m as healthy as a race horse.”
“So you need medicine to make you even healthier, right?”
“Correct. Man, I’m sure lucky to have a smart wife like you.”
“And you know how to change the subject. Cut the bull, and tell me what the doctor said.”
“He said I wasn’t getting enough.”
“Enough what?”
“I’ll show you,” he said as he grabbed Gail and wrestled her down on the couch.
“You’ve got a one track mind, Mr. Gilmer. I should have known. No deal.”
George feigned disappointment. “Okay,” he sighed. “If you insist, I’ll tell you. He thinks I probably have an ulcer. So, who needs a doctor when I’ve got such a smart wife that could tell someone what’s wrong without ever going to medical school?”
She smirked. “Is he going to take any tests?”
“He gave me an order for them.”
“And?”
“I’ll get them as soon as I can.”
“You better, George.”
CHAPTER 5
He awakened the next morning refreshed after spending an uneventful symptom free night.
Gail was already awake looking up at the ceiling trying not to disturb her husband when he stirred and stretched. She asked, “No pain?”
“None, I feel great this morning. I don’t know if it was you last night or the medicine that did it.”
“It was me. I have that effect on all my men.”
“I could understand why.”
“So do they,” she said with smile as she yawned and stretched out both arms.
His mind had already drifted off. “When I get home tonight,” he said, “I’ll draw up the plans for Mr. Worthey’s deck.”
“Don’t forget to take your medicine this morning,” she said.
“Oops. Thanks for the reminder,” he said as he downed the pill, got up, dressed, had a small breakfast and rushed off to work.
That evening, after dinner, he sat down in front of the television set. Gail joined him on the couch.
“How’d you do today?” she asked.
“Good.”
“No pain?”
“Gone.”
“Good. What’s happening with Mr. Worthey?”
“What about him?”
“His drawings.”
“What about the drawings?” He looked puzzled.
Gail frowned. “Don’t you remember saying you’d work on the plans for his deck when you came home tonight?”
“When did I say that?’
