Technically correct - not always the best choice

It's been a few months and I'm still dealing with the knee issue. Had my second appointment with the orthopedist today. Last week's was a treasure. He did a less than cursory (it is possible) interview and told me to take off my pants, walk around and then and lie down. I did. He started feeling around my knee and leg and then said he was going to give me a shot. I don't like needles and would prefer to avoid them unless absolutely necessary. So I asked what type of shot - I was already on medication and wanted to 1) make sure it wasn't duplicated, and 2) see if a pill could be substituted instead. He turned to me and said I didn't have to have it if I didn't want it, never mind. He was a bit snippy. I was uncomfortable and I still didn't know what he wanted to give me. I forgot that doctors here aren't used to as many questions. Then he told me not to walk, lose the brace, elevate my leg and keep ice on it. He sent me out to schedule another appointment.

Today was my follow up. He seemed in a slightly better mood. I got to keep my pants on. We were off to a good start. He felt around a bit and it hurt. He felt around some more and it hurt more. Then he told me that there's too much fluid  and he wants to test it. Here's the technically correct part that totally freaked me out - the way he said it. "I am going to puncture your knee."

Puncture in the same sentence as any body part will never sound good. You don't say 'I'm going to puncture my ears tomorrow', you say 'I'm going to pierce them.' You get blood drawn or you get a blood test you don't puncture your arteries. Dog bites leave puncture wounds, drug addicts have puncture marks, to test for meningitis our MS you get a lumbar puncture (yes, technically it refers to a region of the body but it's not such a body-part sounding word, lumbar, that is)... none of those are lovely sounding things. And it's not fun when you puncture your tire either.

Anyway, the use of the word puncture in relation to my knee freaked me out. But, it's going to happen - it just didn't happen today.

One more note - and actually, I really like this hospital, even though the staff often sends me to the wrong places and, unlike their advertisements, the nurses and intake people don't all speak English - I've gotten lost there a few times. With directions like "Follow the white line" it's totally understandable.