Word: spanishing
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...orthopedic surgeons, often four or five, will talk to you, examine you (and your x-rays) and then discuss your case in a sophisticated conference and decide on the best course of treatment - all for $45 ($175 if you live outside of the "neighborhood" - what used to be called Spanish Harlem.) I learned a good deal of what I know about treating patients there as a resident, and I've taught there ever since. A few have been there longer, but after twenty years I'm an old-timer. This is a story about another old-timer - a patient named...
...like waiting, she was snappy during her interview, she made sure I wrote her out prescriptions for all the medication I recommended, even the over-the-counter ones. This way they would all be paid-for. She spoke no English, and she even poked fun at my clinic Spanish. I made a note of it in her chart...
...years later I didn't recognize her when I walked into her cubicle in the clinic again. I recognized my handwriting in her chart though. And when she rolled her eyes at my Spanish it all came back. "You've been here three years and you still can't speak Spanish any better?" she accused with a twinkle. Now we got into it: Any better? You've been living in my country all this time and you haven't learned any English? A lively debate on the merits of a bilingual society gave way to a cortisone shot...
...small brief, Rosa had gotten a job. She spoke English decently. She had gotten her kids into a Catholic school. Some magic combination of seeking out a 'better life for my kids' and Welfare reform had helped her make it - though barely. I tried to show off some improved Spanish while explaining the wrist problem. "Give it up doc" was her response. "Just tell me what is the problem and what...
...next cubicle was a woman more like the old Rosa - no job, no husband. She had been injected and splinted and was still in pain - though less, I felt, than Rosa. I gave the explanation in Spanish with help from my bilingual resident...