Dr. K Has Come A Long Way

“Dr. K has come a long way,” I said to my husband.

I said this because I’d just gotten out my Netti Pot, at the suggestion of Dr. K, to begin a twice-daily sinus cleanse – a procedure he recommended heartily after shining his little examination light up my nostrils. He called what he saw up there “cobbly” which reminds me of a charming street in Paris, but is apparently not the ideal state for one’s sinus cavity.

Scott immediately began to recount a visit he’d had with Dr. K years ago for some ongoing ear pain. “He looked inside my ear and said, ‘What have you been putting in there?’”

Scott then tried to explain to him the ins and outs of an Ear Candle. “It’s this long, thin roll of wax – it’s in the shape of a taper candle – and you stick one end in your ear and then you light it on fire!”

Dr. K had blanched but Scott went on, “There’s a ton of smoke while it burns toward your head, and then afterwards, you can look inside the candle and see all the gunk that’s been drawn out of your ear.”

Dr. K is very young, very earnest and very kind. But at that point he looked at Scott firmly and said, “Don’t ever do that again.”

At my own physical last week, not only was I met with benign nodding when I listed the homeopathic remedies I take for my various ailments, I was also really surprised by his reaction when I said I believed the Trochanteric Bursitis he’d diagnosed me with a few weeks ago was not entirely due to tennis.

“The Swine Flu story broke on a Monday and by Friday I couldn’t walk,” I said. “I think that whole injury was due to my crazed mental state.” I know I’m asking for trouble when I make these kinds of proclamations to an MD, but I’ve loved this doctor since the first day I walked into his office six years ago, and I’m always afraid it hurts our relationship on a deep level when I hold back this kind of information from him.

No blanching this time. Not even an eye roll. He merely said (in his doctorly way), “Well, you never know.”