Dr. Handsome Throws Another Fit

I had hoped that Dr. Handsome's tantrum, about which I wrote earlier, would turn out to be a rare occasion, a brief moment of temper not to be repeated anytime soon. Yeah, I was wrong. The last time I had encountered the pretty to look at Dr. Handsome had been in Recovery. This time it was in Preop. He had a patient with a hip fracture, a gentleman in his 80's. The patient was on an Amiodarone drip and had pacer pads on. His telemetry nurse walked down with him, which typically only the ICU nurses do. This guy obviously had some cardiac issues. Dr. Handsome had requested a Cardiologist consult for cardiac clearance, covering everyone's butts if this guy had problems during surgery. Well, apparently the Cardiologist's report was too ambiguous for Dr. Handsome. It simply stated that the patient was a surgical risk. He threw down the chart with a clatter and started raising all kinds of hell at any nurse within his visual range. He demanded that a nurse get the Cardiologist on the phone, so we did. The Cardiologist seemed genuinely befuddled by the conflict. Finally Dr. Handsome had to get on the phone and ask for a more specific endorsement of the patient's suitability for surgery. His voice and manner did get slightly nicer while he spoke with the other doctor. Dr. Handsome then ordered that a nurse get on the phone and write down word for word the cardiologist's statement because of course he could not lower himself to write them down himself. So I wrote down. "Patient is cleared for surgery however presents significant cardiac risks". Apparently this satisfied Dr. Handsome's cover his butt instincts. He examined the order sheet (I guess just in case I had mischievously written down something different), threw down the chart AGAIN, and stalked off to the mysterious realm of the surgeons' lounge. The patient made it through the surgery.