A public rant

I am so angry today. Why? Because people need to learn to mind their own damn business. Let me explain.

I started my one-week ophthalmology rotation today. Taking advantage of the situation, I asked the attending a question about an eye condition that a friend of mine had experienced for which they were unable to find a diagnosis. He went through a list of things that they could look into and then stops and says, "I mean, I don't like to give unsolicited advice or anything, but you should think about thyroid levels." I told him that I thought that she had already had her thyroid levels checked and that they were normal when he interrupted me and said, "No, not for her...for you." Okay, asshole.

For those of you not in the medical field, I will give you a quick background on why this makes me upset. He wanted me to check and make sure that I don't have hyperthyroidism. Now, there is a condition called Graves Disease which is a common cause of hyperthyroidism, but it isn't the only cause. The three things that differentiate this type of hyperthyroidism from run-of-the-mill hyperthyroidism are lid lag, pretibial myxedema, and exophthalmos. Lid lag means that when you look down, your upper eyelid doesn't follow your gaze like it is supposed to. Pretibial myxedema is puffiness of the shins of the legs to where it looks like your legs are orange peels. And exophthalmos, the bane of my existence, is when your eyes bulge out of your head because of increased amounts of fat behind the eye pushing it forward.

This is the THIRD TIME that a doctor that I have worked with has told me that I should get my thyroid levels checked because of my eyes. Because these idiots apparently don't know what real Graves Disease looks like, I have shared three examples with you above. Notice how the eyes bulge out of the head and creepily look like their staring at you intently. Now look at the last picture. This is a picture of my eyes. Note how beautiful and green they are. Note how they may be larger appearing than the average person's eyes, however they do not stick out of my head or creep you out. They are "Little Mermaid-esque" and special.

I have spent almost 4 years of my life in medical school. Don't you think I would've realized that something were seriously wrong with my eyes and have gotten it checked out by myself?! No! Because there is nothing wrong with my eyes! Please refrain from chasing me down the hallway to so graciously ask me to get my thyroid levels checked because you are worried about me.

Now if I could only think of an excellent comeback for these morons who feel it their business to point out my large eyes to me. I'm thinking, "No, I haven't gotten my thyroid levels checked. But have you gotten your mouth checked? As we've been sitting here talking, I've been growing more and more concerned that it has turned into an asshole." What do you think?