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Lost in Suburbia: Off the (rotator) cuff Jan 21, 2015 12:00 AM A A By Tracy Beckerman More Content Now “Hi, I’m Doreen. I’ll be your nurse today,” said Nurse Doreen. “We are fixing the torn rotator cuff in your left shoulder, correct?” I nodded. It felt like déjà surgery. I’d had surgery for a torn meniscus ten months earlier in the same hospital with the same doctor and the same nurse as last time. So, the obvious question was, “Do I have the same anesthesiologist?” I wondered. “Who was that?” she asked. “Watt.” “Who?” “Watt.” I repeated. “What?” “Yes,” I said. “Yes, what?” she wondered. “Right,” I agreed. She paused. I could see she seemed confused, although I had no idea why. “OK, let’s try this again,” she began. “Who was your doctor?” “Yes,” I said. “Yes, what?” “No, he was my anesthesiologist.” “Who?” “He was my surgeon.” “Who was your surgeon?” “Yes, Hu.” “Don’t you know?” “I do,” I replied. “It was Hu.” “That’s what I want to know,” she sighed. “Can we start over?” “Sure,” I replied. “OK, tell me, who was your surgeon?” “Yes, Hu was my surgeon.” She blinked. “What was the name of your anesthesiologist?” “Yes, “ I agreed. “Watt was the name of my anesthesiologist.” Confident we were on the same page, I went back to my original question. “So do I have the same anesthesiologist today?” I asked. “But we don’t know who you had the first time!!!” she exclaimed. “WATT!” I replied. “I said, WE DON’T KNOW WHO YOU HAD THE FIRST TIME!” She shouted. I paused and decided to take another approach. “OK, who do I have today?” She looked at my paperwork. “Watt,” she replied. “I said, who do I have today?” I repeated. “Watt,” she said. “ Is that who you had last time?” “Who? “Watt.” “What?” “Yes,” she said. I sighed. At this rate I was going to be numb from the conversation before I got my anesthesia anyway. “You know, I guess it doesn’t really matter who is my anesthesiologist today,” I said. “OK,” she replied. “But Hu is your surgeon.” Become a fan of Lost in Suburbia on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LostinSuburbiaFanPage. Lost in Suburbia: Off the (rotator) cuff