The Hospital As "Pick-Up Joint"

Every once in a while, I try to post something that is a little more light-hearted, not so doom and gloom, something on the lighter side of being chronically ill. It doesn’t always happen, but today, you are in luck.

The last few weeks of doctors’ appointments got me to thinking…

Yes, at first glance, this whole idea (as the title of the post suggests) might sound disgusting and repugnant.

But for a 20-something with several chronic illnesses who feels like she spends more time at doctors’ appointments and waiting for prescriptions than anywhere else, it makes intuitive sense. I see my doctors more than I see a lot of my friends.

Now, to answer the obvious question, it hasn’t happened yet. I haven’t dated anyone I’ve met at the hospital. I haven’t actually met anyone yet (in that sense)... But in reality, why not?

It’s not as if I go to doctors appointments with the express goal of meeting someone. And I certainly don’t go roaming the halls playing Florence Nightingale. But in the back of my mind, there certainly is a little bit of thought brewing that well… maybe it’s not such a bad idea.

And I’m not talking about dating my own doctors, because that is wrong… on so many levels. But doctors that I’m not a patient of aren’t off limits. And there aren’t too many other people my age that grace the rheumatology clinic, so chances are, we wouldn’t even have diseases in common, if I met a patient.

On the one hand, this post is meant to be humorous and satirical. On the other hand, I’m really serious. I know, though, that there are a lot of potential complications I’m leaving out (on purpose).

I mean, I don’t really go to bars because I can’t drink and the smoke bothers me. Basically, I go to class or work, go to coffee shops, and go home. So, if I’m not meeting people in any of those places, that only leaves one potential place.

And just think about it. A backdoor tryst with a young resident? It’s so soap opera-esque, it just might possibly happen.

Because let’s face it, I’m not getting any younger, and certainly, this body of mine isn’t either.

I know, this brings up bigger issues in my life, like the fact that I’m single and alone, and have no romantic prospects lined up for, well, let’s just say, the foreseeable future. But the point is, I’m single, alone, and chronically ill. And as we all know, chronic illness complicates just about everything.