In celebration of Doctor’s Day, we asked a few of our physicians what’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
Dr. Mary Jane Piroutek, emergency medicine specialist
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: Kids say funny things all the time. One of my favorites was a little 4 year old girl that had ingested coins and they were stuck in her esophagus. When I asked her what happened she shrugged her shoulder and with a mischievous look in her eyes said, “I ate the money, I’m not supposed to eat the money.” Also recently a patient told me I looked like Snow White (which I don’t) and she called me Dr. Snow White the whole time I took care of her.
Dr. Gary Goodman, medical director, pediatric intensive care unit, CHOC at Mission Hospital
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: Just recently, I had a patient, who has a mild developmental delay, call me “the boy.” I would stop in the patient’s room each morning, at which point I’d get asked, “What do YOU want?”
Dr. Kenneth Kwon, emergency medicine specialist
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: An adage in pediatric emergency care is when a child comes in with a nosebleed, you don’t ask if he picks his nose, you ask him which finger he uses. When I asked this question to one of my pint-sized patients, he answered that he used all of them, and then proceeded to demonstrate by sticking each of his 10 fingers in his nose individually. It was priceless.
Dr. Maryam Gholizadeh, general and thoracic surgeon
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: There was a young child around 8-9 years old and we were going to remove his appendix with laparoscopy. I was standing on his left side because with laparoscopy we make our incision on the left side. Just before he went to sleep he looked up at me and said, “Why are you standing on my left? My appendix is on the right.” I was amazed at how knowledgeable this kid was!
Dr. Jennifer Ho, hospitalist
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: From a 3-year-old girl: “I want to be a doctor like you … but only for unicorns and fairies.”
Dr. Andrew Mower, neurologist
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: “I don’t eat apples, doctor.”
“Why?”
“Because they keep the doctor away, and I like you, Dr. Mower.”
Dr. Laura Totaro, hospitalist
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: I was examining the mouth of my patient when he proudly showed me his loose tooth and whispered to me that his family had a secret. He then excitedly admitted that his mom was the tooth fairy! His mother looked at me quizzically and then burst out laughing when she realized what had taken place. Earlier she had admitted to him that she played the role of tooth fairy at home but her son took this quite literally and believed it to actually be her secret full time job for all children.
Dr. Mustafa Kabeer, general and thoracic surgeon
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: A patient asked me what my first name was, and I told him it was Mustafa. He then promptly told me that was the name of his pet lizard!
Dr. Sharief Taraman, neurology
Q: What’s the funniest thing a patient has ever told you?
A: One of my patients told me that I look like the character Flint Lockwood from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and another one thinks I look like the character Linguini from the movie Ratatouille, both of which I found very funny. Apparently, I give off the nerdy guy vibe.
