And also, you're orange.

So, I would be lying if I said it was easy to remain professional at all times of the day. It only makes me human and when I see ridiculous things sometimes it takes a lot to keep my mouth shut.

Exhibit A: my first experience with a professional power lifer.
I walk in the room and was just insanely shocked at the orange factor. Literally, the man was orange. Not like a glowing tan, but Cuties oranges orange. I thought for a second holy cow this man alone keeps tanning beds in business. Nope. HE INJECTS SELF TANNER (Melanotan). Is this real? Yes, it is and actually very common in power lifters. I live under a rock and just thought they tanned a lot. More than this, he admitted to EATING handfuls of testosterone, growth hormone, thyroid hormone, you name it he ate it. He did not have the resources or time to compound the medications (ordered from china) into the proper tablet or injectable so he simply ate the powder form.... So, why was he in our office? ABDOMINAL PAIN!!! I was coming out of my skin on the inside as I politely nodded my head and talked to him about this incredibly reckless passion of his. Thankfully, my preceptor took over the interview because he had insight as to how to handle the situation. The patient refused any testing or blood work until after his competition so we basically just let him leave with a PPI and a follow up appointment.

I was upset about this and continue to think about it. Did we just let a ticking time bomb walk out? What if he has a perforated ulcer? He is bleeding? Will he come back? It just really bothered me. I learned a good lesson though about establishing rapport and building trust. My preceptor did not lecture him on his horrible habits, but instead just talked to him like it was totally normal to ingest handfuls of hormones from China. The patient trusted him and I really do feel like he will come back for a more thorough work-up. Looking back, it was clear that the patient knew more about synthetic hormones than we will probably ever know and he knew the potential risk he was taking. It was also clear he had zero intention of changing his routine. He didn't need us to talk down to him or tell him what horrible things he was doing, he already knew. He needed someone who cared about him and would be supportive. My doc did just that and I think he gained himself a new patient and someone he can truly make an impact on once this competition is over. The patient is retiring from lifting after this competition so hopefully he can realized how much harm he was doing to his body....and also that he is orange.