The story has been heard before, but this is the first time I was part of it. I have a young adult girl and her family in my practice. On a Monday morning I got a phone call from her mother that she was raped over the weekend.
Stop here for a moment.
In the middle of a busy Monday morning rush of patients waiting in rooms to be seen, phone calls to be answers, the pager going off and my email inbox warning me that there were several unread messages, time stood still.
Her friend invited her to a party on a Saturday night and introduced her to a boy. One thing led to the next and there she was in the ER. She said 'no' but maybe too late? Although a young adult, she lives with her parents and has some issues with depression and some developmental delay. A rape kit was collected, although it was locked away because she did not want to press charges because "I don't want him to get into trouble". The next day however, she changed her mind and the wheels are set into motion.
We treated her for potential sexually transmitted disease exposure, tested her for pregnancy and set up an appointment for her counselor.
Running behind. My medical assistant reminds me that room 2 is a 1-month old baby boy here for a well child visit with his parents. I put my feelings in the ice box, put a smile on my face and walk in to a happy family.
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