THE TICK THAT BIT ME

My Friend (Frenemy?) Anti-panty: Healing Humor 04/28/2012

During my 42 days “doing time” in the infusion clinic, I became acquainted with three women from the same family—a young woman, her mother, and her grandmother—who were all being treated by Dr. W for various conditions. I’ll call them the Kind family, because they are amazingly kind and generous people. Grandma Kind lived on the east coast, and would be seen periodically by Dr. W when she visited her daughter and granddaughter. She’d had some lab work done, and the results came into Dr. W’s office by fax at the very end of a workday.

Credit: Louise Docker

Seeing that the elder Mrs. Kind had tested positive for an infection, Dr. W thought it wise to telephone her right away so that she could make arrangements to get treated for it. It was nearly 7:00 p.m. pacific time, 10:00 p.m. eastern time, when he called Mrs. Kind to inform her of the lab results. He hadn’t considered the time difference until she answered the phone with a groggy “hello.” He apologized for disturbing her at such a late hour, but went ahead and quickly explained that she had an Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection, and asked that she call his office within the next few days to arrange for treatment.

The next morning, Dr. W received a distressed phone call, not from the elder Mrs. Kind, but from her daughter.

“Dr. W, my mother said you called last night, and I’m a little worried about her diagnosis. I tried to Google it, but I can’t find any information on Anti-panty-poo-poo.”

Dr. W thought his hearing aid must have malfunctioned and said, “Excuse me?” to which Mrs. Kind replied, “My mother says you said she has Anti-panty-poo-poo. What exactly is that?”

Anyone who hears this story can’t help thereafter referring to Anaplasma phagocytophilum as anti-panty-poo-poo.

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