Ode to Medical Practitioners Everywhere!
Friday, January 19th, 2024
Human failings aside, I am deeply appreciative of and grateful for all of the medical practitioners who help me live better (and live at all).
I, and my son, both had hernia surgeries in our toddler years.
My younger son had a broken and dislocated bone in his wrist successfully manipulated into place and healed (at 10).
At 18, the amazing crew at the ER put his dislocated shoulder back into place (with the help of Ketamine) and a month later, a surgical specialist repaired the internal damage, ensuring that he would not be plagued with repeat dislocations for the remainder of his life.
Everyone in the family has a mouth full of teeth that work and generally don’t hurt, while also looking like normal, natural teeth thanks to modern composites versus old school metal fillings.
The jury’s out with regard to whether the braces (and forever retainers) were necessary and preferable to letting nature take its course, but the care provided was warm, understanding and professional.
Thanks to free health care offered by Planned Parenthood, my first bout of HPV was discovered and pre-cancerous cells were removed (at 21) — and thanks to my annual due diligence, it was caught and dealt with again at 30, helping me make it to 51 cancer-free. Without care and treatment, my sons might never have been born.
My husband can see color again and details are sharper, thanks to eye surgery, and drops are keeping the pressure down, preventing further problems.
I will never stop feeling grateful to my Endodontist who provided extraordinary care during my first (and only - knock on wood) root canal! Or my various dentists over the years who have stopped my cavities cold, and filled them so well that 23 years later, I’ve only had two replaced.
Without my beloved chiropractors (who always tell me to go home, use my body better, and try not to come back, 😎) — I can’t even imagine how my body would feel today, and the same goes for my Physical Therapist (Jake - you rock!) who manages to fix the body parts that I accidentally overuse and abuse.
Thanks to centuries (millennia?) of glass and lens experiments, I have an awesome pair of glasses that make it easy for me to do everything from knit to cook to pull a splinter out of my skin and write this Substack on my cell phone!
During Covid, my admiration for “brave and courageous” medical practitioners shot into the stratosphere, as I benefited from what was being rapidly discovered around the world — making Covid easily manageable and (thanks to my newly increased levels of Vitamin D and Zinc) I’ve only been sick once (with Covid) since the fall of 2019.
And lastly, although I’m probably missing a few other gratitude-worthy medical experiences, I am very appreciative of my long-term dermatologist. My Mom referred me to her, and in early December (at my annual body scan) she found an abnormal mole on the back of my thigh (where I hadn’t noticed it). The shave biopsy results were reassuring but today we followed up with a punch excision, all to make sure we leave no unhealthy cells behind!
Later today, I’m going to swing by the office and drop off a Thank You Card for her and the staff, because they deserve to be thanked. These people devote their lives to the complicated, challenging and sometimes stressful work of giving us all a better chance at living a healthier, longer life. And that’s awesome!
Next time you visit the doctor, the dentist, or even your beloved fur baby’s Vet, take a couple minutes to offer a true, detailed and sincerely meant thank you. So many patients are focused on the bill or the discomfort or getting back to their day, I think we come across as taking medical practitioners for granted. Let’s not do that. Let’s do better. ❤️