Today's doctor visit was less pleasant than I'd hoped. After some physical tests and a visual analysis of my MRI, the doctor said, "You need 6 weeks of physical therapy." I politely asked him to explain why I needed physical therapy; after all, I'd done it before, and things only got worse.

He got hot around the collar, raised his voice, and accusingly asked how long ago I'd had the therapy. At this point, the intern who'd been observing the visit started to shrink into the corner. I told him that it had been seven years, and he responded that new therapies have been developed since then.

Here's where I made a mistake. I asked a simple question, and, apparently, I caught him either a) lying, or b) being ignorant. I queried, "What new therapies are out there?" As he got in my face and exploded, I noticed the intern try to blend in with the wall. "I'm a surgeon! I fix things! Therapy is what I say to do! I'm a surgeon!" I kept my cool (for once) but continued to push him for an answer to my question. His position was that, in medicine, when something doesn't work (e.g., physical therapy), you try it again. When something doesn't work, try it again?!?!? Does anyone see how this is completely counter-intuitive??? He kept asking, "Do you understand it now? Do you understand it now?!?!?" At one point, a nurse opened the door and peeked her head in to see what was going on, leaving the door ajar when she left. After 10 minutes of yelling, he finally told me that 1) he didn't know what new therapies were out there, and 2) he didn't know what was wrong with my shoulder.

I was only left with one question, "May I have my co-pay back?"