Turtles, turtles, all the way down...

I know every field has its specializations.  I*m more conversant in the religious or mental health ones, than the medical parsing of the body into finer and finer pieces interfacing with each other.  Each one stands on the back of the one underneath.  From time to time someone gets the bright idea to simplify things.  The thought that the family doctor puts it all together, stands underneath the specialties, coordinates the specialist dance, is an interesting idea... and perhaps holds true when the dance involves an ingrown toenail.  Maybe there is a secret manual somewhere.

Years ago I married a man

Who was determined to be an

Otorhinolaryngologist.

I can still barely pronounce it.

He did his research on T-cells.

He used hamsters with big cheeks.

He is still an otorhinolaryngologist,

Only now he is called

A head and neck surgeon.

Simpler

That.

He is not my husband anymore.

But this is not about him anyway.

Now I am embarked on my own series of specialists

Standing on the backs

Of specialists

All the way down

Or up.

It depends on how I see it,

Which way I turn my head,

Squint my eyes,

Whether I look through the left eye blur

Or close it entirely.

The journey goes from Emergency Room

To ophthalmologist

To retina specialist

To neuro-ophthalmologist.

I suspect it will end up back

At the plain neurologist:

So much simpler

That.

Of course every neurologist

Specializes too.

But that*s not for now.

Now is to be categorized

By specialists

All the way down

Or up.

There is clearly an order to all of this.

Clearly there is a secret book

Everyone follows.