Making sure your patient knows what you are talking about

This weekend I had an amusing experience- beside the storm...

A woman was talking to me about someone she knew that had to have shoulder surgery- so I said- "what is she having done, and A-C joint repair?" She said "no" and she thinks she tore her "labia"... I smiled and put my arm around the woman and told her that is a Labrum in the shoulder and the labia is a "lady part"-she was embarrassed-so I told her how one of my teachers and I confused mastitis and mastoiditis-if you are a woman you probably know mastitis, but mastoiditis is an ear infection that has grown into the bone behind the ear. I also told her about how I used to always confuse zantac the antacid and xanax the antianxiety med when I was a kid working in the pharmacy. Its funny, but it isn't-so next time your doctor tells you something you dont totally understand- ask for clarification- everyone makes mistakes-even the pro's