She was a woman in the first half of the reproductive age. She came to the gynecology outpatient clinic.
"What are your complaints?" I asked her.
"Doctor, I have not had any problem this month" she said.
"So what is the problem?" I asked her. "It is a good thing that you have no problems."
"But doctor, how can you say that? I must have the problem every month" she said with hurt in her voice in the first sentence, and conviction in the second sentence."
"Every month?" this seemed something familiar. Women have something every month. Did she mean menstruation?
"Yes doctor, if I don't get the problem, I feel all bloated up and get this dull pain in the lower abdomen" she said. Surely she meant menstruation?
"What do you mean by problem? There are many types of problems in one's life. Do you mean menstrual flow?" I said.
"Yes, doctor" she said, looking all around to see if anyone had heard that word. Her facial expression clearly showed her displeasure at the use of that word. 'Ugh! Gross!' she seemed to say without actually uttering the words.
"But why do you call it 'problem'?" I asked her out of curiosity.
"That is what it is called" she said, surprised that I did not know that.
"Do you use the word 'problem' in place of the word 'menstruation'?" I asked the other patients sitting in a queue, and the women doctors around us. They all shook their heads.
I wanted to ask her who had taught her to use that word, her school teacher, mother, or friends in childhood. But I refrained from doing so. The need of the hour was to get her the problem she wanted, not finding out the source of her health education.
"What are your complaints?" I asked her.
"Doctor, I have not had any problem this month" she said.
"So what is the problem?" I asked her. "It is a good thing that you have no problems."
"But doctor, how can you say that? I must have the problem every month" she said with hurt in her voice in the first sentence, and conviction in the second sentence."
"Every month?" this seemed something familiar. Women have something every month. Did she mean menstruation?
"Yes doctor, if I don't get the problem, I feel all bloated up and get this dull pain in the lower abdomen" she said. Surely she meant menstruation?
"What do you mean by problem? There are many types of problems in one's life. Do you mean menstrual flow?" I said.
"Yes, doctor" she said, looking all around to see if anyone had heard that word. Her facial expression clearly showed her displeasure at the use of that word. 'Ugh! Gross!' she seemed to say without actually uttering the words.
"But why do you call it 'problem'?" I asked her out of curiosity.
"That is what it is called" she said, surprised that I did not know that.
"Do you use the word 'problem' in place of the word 'menstruation'?" I asked the other patients sitting in a queue, and the women doctors around us. They all shook their heads.
I wanted to ask her who had taught her to use that word, her school teacher, mother, or friends in childhood. But I refrained from doing so. The need of the hour was to get her the problem she wanted, not finding out the source of her health education.
