I was in the hospital bed, laying in the hallway waiting to go into surgery. The head resident comes up to me and says, "Soooo...the surgeon who normally does these types of surgeries, and he's REALLY good, is not on call tonight. But the other surgeon is also really good and can do the appentechtomy without any challenges. We'll get you in and out in no time."

I respond, "well...I'd feel more comfortable if the surgeon who normally does these types of surgeries were to perform the surgery. I'm sure the other sugeon is great, but I'd be more comfortable if I had the expert. Can you try to see if he would be willing to perform the surgery?"

Reluctantly, the resident replied that he'd make a call and will let me know.

15 mins later, he comes back and says, "I spoke with the expert surgeon. He lives in Connecticul. He's on his way in and will be in the hospital in about 45 mins. Thanks for your patience."

I thought, "wow! head resident. I'm sure you are smart, but the way you handled this was pretty dumb. Why did you tell me the main surgeon wasn't on call and implied that the other surgeon wasn't as skilled? Glad you mentioned it to me so I could advocate for the best care. Your patient interactions need to improve - would save you some trouble."

Surgery went great. Felt sooooo much better as soon as I woke up from the anesthesia.