A tribute to good parents

It's amazing to me... I was moonlighting today where I saw approximately 23 patients in 12 hours.  Of these people I saw all types, well to do, very poor, and those in the middle.  In there somewhere was a sweet, well kept elderly woman.  She was very polite and courteous despite all the pain she was in.  Then there was her daughter.  It looked as if the mother had pulled her out of the garbage can on her way out the door.  The description is this: Greasy dark hair, no teeth, T-shirt spotted with grease, sweats, and a heavy load to fill them.  This supprised me just a little.  Don't get me wrong, I see all types of people come through OSU medical center, but they usually all look alike and dress in the same fashion.  Thinking that this was just a one time incidence for the day I went about seeing patients without another thought.  

We live in such a plentiful and primped up society, if you will.   You would think that the second generation would be so much more in tune and live up to and possibly surpass the standard set by their parents.  You may think "oh how superficial can you get, dogging on people like that".  Well, a little later on, I see a chart for "back pain".  As I roll my eyes, I walk into a room with a mother and a 17 year old.  No, it wasn't the well kept, nice looking 45 year old mom with the back pain.  It was the 17 year old severely obese girl with super tight genes and shirt with greasy black hair that stuck to her head when she put it behind her ears.   After evaluation the 5'4" girl, we had a good discussion about several issues in her life, namely the 80 extra pounds she was carrying.  I introduced her to the dark like around her neck.  She tried to blame her boyfriend and a necklace, but no dice.  It's called Acanthosis Nigricans, thought to be caused from elevated levels of insulin in the circulatory system.  A tell tale sign of a future of diabetes if lifestyle isn't carefully assessed and changed.  

Granted as a child, I didn't shower when I really needed to.  I discovered putrid B.O. on a temple trip I had no clue I was capable of producing.  For heavens sake, I even wore florescent shorts to school, the whole time thinking it was cool.  That's okay, my sexy long hair made up for that.  Okay, Deb can stop laughing hysterically at me (not with me) now.  Seriously though, I actually tried to be cooler than my parents and at the same time listen to their advice.  So far it's worked out pretty good.  I have a smokin' hot wife and three adorable kids and a decent job.  I'm still not very cool, but at least I'm headed in the right direction.  Thank you mom and dad for making me listen to you.  And, Happy fathers day.