"Black as the ace of spades"

"Black as the ace of spades" is how one patient described her stool. Some people have the most amusing one liners. I mean really, who talks about poop like that? It makes the patient interview portion of the visit more fun and interesting. It makes me wonder where they come up with these descriptions. Oh the things you learn from the questions you ask! Folks at the extremes of age (whether they be young or old) seem more prone to do this. I'm not sure if it's a generational language thing or just that they're at a point in life where they don't care what they say as much and so the first thing they think of comes out of their mouths. It's refreshing when people are so frank. Honesty is an overrated virtue these days it seems.
When they fed you a line like that, it can be easy to get a little side-tracked though. It's tough to remain focused - when you know you are running behind and the next patient is waiting. As a student, it's hard to remember period - so many details and diseases and drugs and diagnoses and doctors to refer to when necessary. It's frustrating especially when asked a question I feel I should know the answer to because I looked it up and it doesn't come to mind right away. Some days I would give up a vital organ for a photographic memory.