farmdoc's blog post number 39

In my 29 April 2008 blog post I wrote that Emily sold her carpet. When she was helping to carry the carpet to the buyer’s truck, Emily injured her neck – because she is petite and the carpet was heavy. Since then her injury has settled, I’m relieved to report. Then last Thursday I received from the Medical Council of Tasmania, a large envelope containing a complaint about me submitted by a person I medically assessed last year, supporting documents, and a letter from the Council inviting my response. In my line of work I am a target for disgruntled people who see me as a medium for exacting revenge on a system they believe has not treated them justly. I receive a complaint every few years. (The penultimate one was four years ago.) Previous complaints have never amounted to anything because they were ill-founded and therefore I had no problem rebutting them. And I expect the present one will have the same outcome. But this is not to suggest that receiving and responding to a complaint is not an unpleasant and nerve-wracking process. Because it certainly is. Indeed in the week since I received the current one, my neck muscles have been tight, stiff and sore. Yes, folks: Emily’s sore neck came from hauling carpet, and mine came from being hauled over the carpet.