EYES FOLLOWUP

© MMXV V.1.0.1
by Morley Evans

Dear Julia,

I am going to send you my picture on the first day of school in 1952. You will see that I was a good little boy and I still am. Some girls think I am their bad boy. It's okay with me if they think so. Dr. Mervitz yesterday told me when I go to a doctor, I have to "be a good boy" and I must not "freak out the doctor." 

I gave Dr. Mervitz the letter I wrote for you. Dr. Mervitz was freaked out. He told me that when I go to a doctor, "You must be a good boy." When the doctor asks how I am, I should answer with a smile, "I'm fine doctor." Doctors aren't God he told me, but it is clear from his attitude that Dr. Mervitz thinks doctors are gods. He explained that what happened to me with Lumigan® was an "idiosyncratic reaction." That might happen to one person in a million. It is just like being struck by lightning. Dr. Mervitz told me that doctors are sensitive people and that I don't want to hurt their feelings. Of course it doesn't matter what my feelings are or what a doctor might have done to me. Like gods, doctors are not responsible for anything. If something bad happens the patient may be suffering from paranoia or from a psychosomatic disorder. The patient might be lying or he could have suffered an "idiosyncratic reaction." In any case a doctor is never wrong and pharma-ceutical companies never put dangerous things on the market. All drugs have "side effects," he said. Dr. Mervitz told me he would refer me to a surgeon for cataract surgery if I promise to be a good boy when I go to see the surgeon. When the surgeon tells me to bark like a dog, I'm supposed to say, "Woof!" You don't want a surgeon to be upset, Dr. Mervitz concluded. You want the surgeon to feel happy. Otherwise his knife might slip accidentally on purpose.

So you can see that I am not a good boy after all. I am the boy who pointed out that the emperor has no clothes. No one wants to know that, especially the emperor and the people who made his clothes! Remember these lessons when you are a doctor, my love. I hope things are different in your country. Be careful. The Ukrainian nationalists may not be your only enemies. Idealistic people are a threat to bigots and idiots and you are idealistic like me.

Love,
- Morley

Morley, Eric, Merna and Mary-Lynn Denner

I thanked Dr. Mervitz for giving me an honest assessment of the medical system here in Regina and the quality of the doctors I could expect to find in Regina. I shook his hand. He was surprised. Dr. Mervitz confirmed my opinion that doctors in Regina should be avoided at all costs. I will continue to put as much distance between doctors like Dr. Mervitz and myself as possible. I lowered my guard when I went to Dr. Eidsness.

My friend Dr. Hardy, MD, (who is himself an enlightened doctor) provided this aphorism after he had read the foregoing: Q: What is the difference between God and a doctor? A: God doesn't think he's a doctor.

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