Editorial: Compliments and Corrections

One issue that I have found slightly more embarrassing and more difficult to evade has to do with my cold hands. Cold is probably an understatement – icy might describe them more accurately. They aren’t always cold, but the combination of the cold temperatures in the exam rooms and my frequent hand washings between patient visits almost always keeps my hands cold during office hours. The configuration of our former office suite was long and narrow, with the exam rooms at one end and the water heater at the other. In effect, this meant that no matter how long I washed my hands, the water was always icy. My new office actually has luxuries like hot and cold running water, but alas – my hands remain cold.

All day long I’m sheepishly apologizing, "sorry about my cold hands, sorry about my cold hands." One patient was telling me she’s always the coldest person in any group, and I quipped, "You haven’t felt my hands yet," since I was confident that I would win the contest hands down. "Oh yes I did," she corrected me. "We shook hands when you came in." I had forgotten about that. Just to make me feel better, she added, "Your hands are so cold, I wondered when you had died." Perhaps she was just jealous.

The old adage holds "cold hands, warm heart," but I prefer to remind my patients that in my case, the situation is cold hands, warm stethoscope, and this way I avoid overstating my clinical merits.

Dr. Greenbaum is a rheumatologist who practices in Greenwood, Ind.