Later with love

One of my favorite patients from the South Bronx tracked me down in Philadelphia. She was a young girl with a story to tell. Not sure why she thought her doctor would be a good person to try to tell her story. But I have signed up for the challenge.

Since I don't see her in my clinic office anymore, we mostly stay in touch over the phone. She calls to check in at the oddest times and usually with an update about her love life. During one of my visits back to NYC I met up with her and tried to schedule her to see a colleague of mine at an adolescent health clinic. But she wasn't interested. All she wanted to do was talk. Sometimes talking is the way we heal, especially if no one is listening.

So, that is what I do for her now. I listen and try to give advice. Every phone call has to end with "later" and not "good-bye," because good-bye means forever in her words. She called today and I was feeling particularly annoyed that she wouldn't and hadn't gone to see a doctor for a check-up. She told me she already had a doctor in me. I told her, "you need more than just talk." She said, "it's not talk, it's love."

I smiled... Later D.