"Does it hurt when I touch here?" I asked while lightly pressing the pads of my fingers up against my patient's stomach.
"J-Just a bit."
"How about-"
"Ouch!"
"Alright," I retracted my hand and jotted down a few notes before returning my eye contact to her. "I know what's wrong. I don't have records of you ever being tested for this but I'm certain that it's-"
"W-What is it?"
"Kidney stones," I stated simply. Mrs. Vasquez, my patient, opened her eyes in fear as I gave her the presumed diagnosis but I raised my hand to calm her down. "It's okay, trust me. I know it sounds scary but I can promise you that you'll be just fine."
"H-How do you think this happened?" she questioned.
"Kidney stones form when your urine is being heavily concentrated. It creates these hard deposits of minerals and acids that can make it difficult for you to urinate; painful even. My guess is that you haven't been drinking the amount of water that you should as well as your overall diet. It's not necessary good to eat things that are heavily infused with salts and sugars."
"So that's why it hurts when I pee..."
"Mhm," I nodded. "This is just a strong guess but I'm willing to believe that this is the cause of your stomach pains. Dr. Barron already took a sample of your urine earlier so I'm going to run a test for kidney stones right now. The results should come back soon after. Do you have any questions?"
"Not really I just... I just want to know how trained, professional doctors can barely treat me but an intern can," she sighed. "I mean, I've been here for the past four days and no one has a clue what's wrong with me."
"Well, every doctor is different. Taking time to get to know the patient definitely helps with presumable diagnosis'," I smiled with a tight lip. "By the way, the 'intern figuring out the problem quicker than the licensed doctor's can' thingy is a good question. I asked the same thing to my boss the other day."
I chuckled a bit before pardoning myself from my patient's room. I headed straight for the lab, dropping off my patient's samples for them to be tested. I found it hard to believe that her previous doctor didn't bother test for kidney stones but I've realized that this hospital is filled with people who barely get the job done.
