Penske the healer

 

Penske the healer

     This is a bittersweet but still hilarious tale of Greg's favorite doctor, the sage of medicine: Ben Penske M.D. He was Greg's regular physician for years and was an old style practical man who gave his patients plenty of leeway in their lifestyle choices. So the story goes when our Sheehy went in for his yearly physical and Penske held a chart in his hands as he asked some questions. Do you smoke? answer  yes, about a half a pack a day. Do you drink? answer yes, about a bottle of wine a night. Greg, like all of us was harming himself with these toys but did not want to be told he had to cut it out. When he examined  the report he saw Smoking: moderate..Drinking Moderate.  Greg was so delighted he always referred to Penske as "the great healer." A while later in Costco Greg ran into the good doctor who was loading a half gallon of Chivas Regal into his cart. We used to quote Willy Nelson "there are more old drunks than there are old doctors, so I guess I'll have another round." Poor Penske fell prey to dementia in his last years but he once followed the hippocratic oath faithfully if not to the precise wording of "do no harm"