So, a story time.

I had minor surgery about a week ago, and I was referred to the surgeon by my primary care physician, who’s a young dude who I’m good with.

I go and get an ultrasound done beforehand, and had them send them to the surgeon’s office.

So, in my first meeting with Surgeon-Man, he’s never seen the ultrasound. He tells me “I do these kinds of things all the time, so I can just knock this out.” He tells me it’s a 30 minute surgery and it’s outpatient and you’ll be home that day. To say that he was kinda cavalier is..about how I’d describe it.

Fast forward to the day after the surgery. He’s told my wife about when I can take a shower, and how long til the pain goes away.

But..things aren’t the way they are supposed to play. I develop a fever, peaking at 101. I have a draining sapping pain that never goes away.

I schedule a followup in a panic. Instead of a seven day checkup, I ask for one in three days. He listens to my concerns, looks at a clearly infected wound site, shrugs, and says “I GUESS that’s infected” and prescribes me an antibiotic.

Fast forward. Here’s what racism does; it plants in my head that it’s completely possible that my treatment and aftercare COULD have been part and parcel of me being a Black man and saying that I was in pain and him discounting that. I have no idea if that’s true, or if he does his white patients like this.

But that’s the price, right? “Does this happen to anyone else? Would it? Could it?”