Keeping up with the Jones’s by Phil Stephens

Part III—Suzie Sees the Doctor

Suzie sat in the kitchen listening to the rhythmic sound of one of her mother’s exercise machines next door. The sound stopped and a few minutes later her mother came into the kitchen with a towel around her neck.

“Do you mind going to Dr. Fay’s by yourself this morning?” she asked. “David’s still not himself, and all I do is sit outside and wait for you anyway. I’ll drive you there and you can walk back. It’s a nice day and I know you will enjoy the exercise.”

“No problem, mom,” Suzie replied.

“Your father comes home tonight from his business trip and I can use the extra time to clean up, so that he doesn’t come back to a dirty house.”

Thirty minutes later Suzie began her physical examination.

“You’re supposed to take off your shoes when we weigh you,” said the nurse as Suzie stepped off the scale.

“Shouldn’t make too much difference,” replied Suzie.

The nurse looked closely at Suzie’s face as she waited for her to remove her sneakers before getting back on the scale. The nurse adjusted the weights and the ruler.

“That’s better. Now let’s get your blood pressure,” said the nurse.

Suzie sat on the chair and the nurse put the cuff around her right arm. Suzie felt the cuff squeeze around her arm and then a slow release as the cuff deflated. The nurse seemed puzzled, so she repeated the procedure and got the same values. She wrote the blood pressure on Suzie’s chart.

Next Suzie felt the nurse repeatedly jab the inside of her right arm and then the sting as the nurse was finally able to draw blood.

“We meet again, young lady,” said Doctor Fay as she entered the room. “So, an annual physical and a pre-season physical all rolled into one.”

The doctor looked at the chart with only a few entries from the nurse, then said, “Okay, let’s take a look.”

When the physical was over Suzie looked in the mirror and caught Doctor Fay looking at her as she put on her sweats. Doctor Fay had a pained expression on her face and asked, “Is your Mom waiting for you outside?”

“No, she’s looking after Dave,” Suzie replied.

“Your brother has an appointment with me tomorrow morning at 11. Why don’t all three of you come in and see me. We’ll have the results from your blood work by then, so we can kill two birds with one stone,” Dr. Fay suggested.

“Can you at least give me the physical form so that I can skate? The first practice is tomorrow morning,” Suzie pleaded.

“Sorry; I can’t do that until the blood work comes in. Do you think that missing one practice will hurt?”

“I guess not,” replied Suzie. “I’ll explain to the coach that my brother is sick and Mom switched our appointments. Maybe he’ll let me practice.”

Questions

What new signs and symptoms does Suzie exhibit that would concern you if you were the doctor?
Do you wish to make any further speculation about Suzie’s condition at this time? Assuming that your speculation is true, what do you think the doctor will find in the results of Suzie’s physical examination?

Go to Part IV—Back to the Doctor’s Office

Originally published at http://www.sciencecases.org/jones/jones3.asp