Some time last August, I was in line at the John Wooden Center to sign up for Taekwondo.  Behind me, this kid asked me if he was in the right place to sign up for Brazilian Jujitsu.  He was.  I had done a little Brazilian Jujitsu back at Stanford so we started talking about that.  I learned he was a freshman and was unsure/anxious about what to expect now that he would doing Brazilian Jujitsu at UCLA.  I mentioned I was in medical school and answered a couple questions about that.  A little bit later, I was done signing up for Taekwondo and went about my other business.  Occasionally, I would see this guy around campus but never spoke to him.  I had no clue if he remembered me, and I certainly didn't remember his name.

Tonight, Brazilian Jujitsu ran a little late as usual.  Taekwondo usually waits until they finish so we can use the room.  As I walked into the room, the students from Jujitsu weren't getting off the mat.  Surely they knew Taekwondo reserved the room for practice.  3 or 4 Jujitsu students were leaning over this one kid who apparently hurt himself.  I walked over to help out and immediately recognized the guy.  It was the guy who I met back in August when I first signed up for Taekwondo.  I elevated his leg, looked for any swelling, palpated for pain, all the while getting the story of how it happened.  The Jujitsu instructor comes up to me and says, "Hey, are you CPR certified or something?"  I reply very non-chalantly that, "I'm a medical student."  Immediately, he starts apologizing that he was wary of someone coming in and moving around the hurt guy's leg.  Of course he was doing the right thing.  I had not introduced myself.  The kid hurt on the ground thought nothing about me just coming over.  He answered all of my questions.  I even did a rough neurological exam and determined his vasculature and nerves were intact.  I got the impression that he remembered who I was and that I was in medical school.

After examination, I really had no definitive answer as to what was the cause.  The guy slightly dislocated his tibia.  It wasn't that obvious because of the ligaments of the knee typically prevent dislocation.  In the process, the guy partially tore a ligament or two.  He described a "throbbing" pain deep to his patella indicative of an ACL tear.  Because of the way the tibia had partially dislocated itself, it could have been an ACL or PCL tear.  I chose not to tell him this.  In this type of situation, if a person/doctor doesn't know the diagnosis, he shouldn't throw out the entire differential.  It'll just make the patient worry more...."I COULD HAVE CANCER????"....not cool.  After an unreasonable amount of time, he was taken away by EMT.  He'll have an x-ray done that will show his tibia partially dislocated.  All of this is rather minor and the guy will be back to normal in a month or two.

Next time I see him, I will definitely ask him about it.  There's no doubt in my mind that he'll remember who I am.