Sayed Tabatabai, MD
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therealdoctort.bsky.social
Sayed Tabatabai, MD
@therealdoctort.bsky.social
6.5K followers 660 following 290 posts
Physician. Writer. Cherish your stories. Listen to each other’s. My debut book “These Vital Signs” is out now from HarperCollins. #MedSky.
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therealdoctort.bsky.social
I’ve had the privilege to work with the best group of colleagues a doctor could ever ask for.

Here’s to the doctors, NPs, PAs, nurses, RTs, PT/OTs, SLPs, RDs, PCTs, and all the support staff that made everything possible.

Peace out SATX! Till next time…

(Y’all are some talented artists too!)
Photo of a piece of art, a card with a painting of me giving a peace sign while smiling, with a silhouette of the San Antonio skyline in the background, and the words “Peace Out San Antonio, NCB Crew” in a graffiti style.
August 31, 2025 at 6:41 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Good thing AI is taking on the menial jobs so humans can focus on making art and creating t- wait, what?
Screenshot of a post by Variety. Two photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Keanu Reeves are beneath a block of text that reads: Lionsgate boss says the studio can use AI to adjust a movie's tone and rating, convert live-action into animation and create kid-friendly cuts: "Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie." The studio hopes its pact with AI startup company Runway allows directors the chance to “make movies and television shows we’d otherwise never make. We can’t make it for $100 million, but we’d make it for $50 million because of AI… We’re banging around the art of the possible. Let’s try some stuff, see what sticks.”
June 4, 2025 at 5:09 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
“No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.”

- R.A. Salvatore.
A photograph of a sunset over rolling hills, with a cloud formation partially obscuring it creating a silhouette that looks vaguely like the dragon from the Mortal Kombat games symbol, seen in profile, neck arched, mouth open. A photograph of a sunset over rolling hills, with a cloud formation partially obscuring it creating a silhouette that looks vaguely like the dragon from the Mortal Kombat games symbol, seen in profile, neck arched, mouth open. This view is more zoomed in, and the dragon shape is more evident.
June 4, 2025 at 1:17 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
This tactic is part of the foundation of toxicity in modern medical practice.

Physicians lack dedication, devotion, resiliency, you name it. The system is never at fault. The system must never change.

Our problem is we just went to medical school to take the easy route…
Tweet by Congressman Greg Murphy: “So troublesome to see so many young doctors complaining about how hard the job is. Your job is taking care of patients. It’s called dedication. It’s called devotion. If you wanted an easy life you should have chosen something else.” Reply by Tyler Olsen: “Have you listened to them explain what exactly is so hard about the job? Because it’s not patient care they’re complaining about.” Reply by theboxdoc: “He ran for Congress because medicine was too hard. I worked with him- he whined incessantly about the hospital, the system and the patients. The statement from him is ludicrous hypocrisy.”
May 24, 2025 at 12:28 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Cartoon illustration of me as Darth Vader in a realistic but also stylized form, standing facing the camera, my cloak billowing about me, holding up a red light saber in my right hand and holding my helmet under my left arm, with Star Wars, Rise of Sayed, Coronaverse, written above it in the classic Star Wars font.
May 4, 2025 at 3:28 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
When you’re trying to do some teaching and are also easily distracted…
A photo of a whiteboard with one half showing treatments for various kinds of kidney diseases, and the other half with a list of movies and TV shows.
April 29, 2025 at 4:44 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
An excerpt from the Nebula Award-winning novel, “Parable of the Talents.”

Written by Octavia Butler, published in 1998, and relevant as ever.
Screenshot of a quote: Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery. - Octavia Butler, “Parable of the Talents.”
April 9, 2025 at 11:21 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Measles? Check.

Trade war? Check.

Child labor? Uhh…
Screenshot of a news article from CNN: “Florida debates lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants.” By Jordan Valinsky, CNN. Screenshot of an excerpt of text from a news article. “Florida has been working for years to crack down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants. But that presented a problem for businesses in the state that are desperate for workers to fill low-wage and often undesirable jobs. Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state legislature have a potential solution: children.”
March 27, 2025 at 1:40 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
I’m not gonna say the future is bleak, but the future is bleak.
Screenshot of a headline from the San Antonio Express News website dated March 20th, 2025. “Don’t do the shots” say parents of West Texas child who died of measles. “She is better off where she is now versus all the negativity and all the stuff going on.” By Annasofia Scheve, staff writer.
March 20, 2025 at 11:19 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
This reminds me of the time Elon said he would give $6 billion (2% of his wealth at the time) to the UN World Food Program if they could give him a plan to eradicate world hunger. In 3 days they gave a detailed report.

He never mentioned the report, and donated the money to his own foundation.
Screenshot of a tweet by “owl at the library” (@sketchesbyboze): Not to defend the robber barons but Andrew Carnegie, the richest man of his era, gave away 90 percent of his wealth and funded the building of 2,811 libraries, and I'm afraid the current crop of oligarchs isn't sending their best.
March 16, 2025 at 11:16 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
I remember the cystic fibrosis patients I took care of 20 years ago.

I also remember the dedicated HIV wards in the hospitals, and that Princess Diana made headlines for shaking hands with AIDS patients.

Progress has been incredible.

Miracles are where you choose to see them.
Screenshot of tweet from @AlecStapp “Too many people take biomedical innovation for granted.” Below this is a screenshot from an article on the Atlantic.com. Highlighted is the text: “A child born with cystic fibrosis in the 50s could expect to live until age 5. In the 70s, age 10. In the early 2000s, age 35. With Trikafta came a quantum leap. Today those who begin taking the drug in early adolescence, a recent study projected, can expect to survive to age 82.5 - an essentially normal lifespan.”
March 15, 2025 at 2:30 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Benjamin Franklin:
Screenshot of a quote by Benjamin Franklin from his autobiography. “In 1736, I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if the child died under it: my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen.”
February 26, 2025 at 8:16 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Always be fighting Cardiology.
Photo of a sign saying “This computer is reserved for our cardiologists. Thank you!” An enterprising nephrologist had scribbled in “and Dr T” after the first sentence. Photo of Internet comedy sensation Glaucomflecken in his nephrologist attire with salt shakers on his belt.
January 27, 2025 at 9:09 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Ahh, sweet San Antonio. Where a tiny dusting of snow turns the town into a set from The Last of Us…
Photo of a normally bustling road that is deserted, covered in a few small patches of snow, with an overcast sky.
January 21, 2025 at 3:35 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
It even looks like his hair.
Screenshot from an ad for “24K Gold Toothpaste.” A dollop of gold sparkling toothpaste shaped suspiciously like Donald Trump’s hairdo on a golden toothbrush. “Anti Inflammatory, Anti Bacterial” says the text underneath.
January 2, 2025 at 3:15 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
The Killers released a Christmas song every year for over a decade. All proceeds from those singles went to charity. Those songs are now all together on an album: “Don’t Waste Your Wishes.”

Check it out if you want some different Christmas tunes! They’re bangers.
Image of the cover of “Don’t Waste Your Wishes” by The Killers. Silhouette of a tree against a night sky with stars, and mountains in the background.
December 24, 2024 at 5:12 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Photo of a news article headline: “Luigi Mangione Prosecutors Have a Jury Problem: ‘So much sympathy.’”
December 20, 2024 at 12:42 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Attended the “Illuminate” light show exhibit at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens last night. Simply stunning.

Will be posting more photos I took, but the highlight was this massive peacock.

It’s hard to describe how disorientingly beautiful this was to experience in person.
December 16, 2024 at 5:23 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Congrats to my friend Colton Valentine on his incredible art exhibit at 337 W Commerce St, in San Antonio, TX.

So grateful to know you man. Wishing you unlimited success.

It’s never too late!

(Not pointing at Sade, I’m pointing at him.)
Photo of me and artist Colton Valentine posing in front of a painting of Sade. I’m pointing at Colton. He’s throwing up a peace sign. Sade is black and white in a red background. Photo of a painting of Tupac. He’s wearing green. The background is lyrics to his songs painted in yellow. Painting of Spider-Man reaching for the viewer. Painting of the lead guitarist from AC/DC shirtless in the middle of a solo, his hair flying wildly. The background is AC/DC in giant neon red lights.
December 15, 2024 at 2:15 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Love finding my little book out in the wild.

Makes a great Christmas gift if you’re still looking! Easy read, nice and compact, great for medical and non-medical people alike. :)

You can find THESE VITAL SIGNS on Amazon or at this website for other options: www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
Photo of several books on a store bookshelf with THESE VITAL SIGNS among them. The color scheme is yellow and Twitter blue.
December 12, 2024 at 5:01 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
That’s DOCTOR Evil .. err Doom… err Polaris .. err Cyber…
December 11, 2024 at 5:58 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
The City of Tulsa coming through in the clutch…
Screenshot of a tweet by “Keep Tulsa” saying “it was great seeing my friend Luigi Mangione in Tulsa on 12-4-24 between 6AM and 6PM.”
December 10, 2024 at 3:09 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
They know the outrage will be limited and things will blow over. As long as profits keep rising, all is well.

We’ve had examples like this over and over and over, but the system propagates itself. There’s too much money in it. The time for incremental change is long gone.

Revolution.
Screenshot of an article. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Won't Pay for the Complete Duration of Anesthesia for Patients' Surgical Procedures Another Example of Insurers Putting Profits Over Patients CHICAGO - In an unprecedented move, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans representing Connecticut, New York and Missouri have unilaterally declared it will no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit,
December 4, 2024 at 2:00 PM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
Love this book. Dazzling, powerful, heartbreaking. Lingers after it leaves. My mind still goes to it from time to time.
December 4, 2024 at 1:09 AM
therealdoctort.bsky.social
“It’s a Small World” is lowkey a kind of terrifying ride, but the level of unease ratchets up to near unbearable levels when the dolls break down and stop dancing and just… stare blankly into nothingness.
December 3, 2024 at 8:55 PM