Perhaps a doctor teamed up with my mother when I first showed up. I didn’t get a report, and I have no birth pictures. The next two doctors tried to keep me from tearing myself apart in childhood. They worked with breaks above and below my left knee at ages three and six. One of them plastered me in a cast from my toes to my waist on that left side and down to just above the knee on the other side.
For twenty years, I’ve worn electronic devices in my chest to support heart function. Within the past two years, one of them restarted my heart after it stopped for twenty-one seconds. My home sits on “lights and sirens alley,” my name for this busy street for ambulances on calls. I occasionally quip that we will not have to call for an ambulance. We can just flag one down at the street!
I have considerable respect for you folks who fill many health care roles in keeping the rest of us up and going. Thank you for answering your call to health care, your devotion to challenging studies, your juggling crazy work schedules, and your blending compassion with professional expertise.
An extra few words of appreciation for your commitment to care during the Covid-19 crisis. The threat and grim reality of loss impact you as a health care provider. You do not give up your humanity when you take on the role of a professional. You are trained and inwardly geared to work for recovery and well-being. You grieve when your patient does not make it.
Please take care of yourself! It takes discipline, and you may have to say no sometimes. Stress management calls for special attention to healthy habits in nutrition, rest, and exercise. We need some time to ourselves for reflection. We need a listener with whom we can drain off some tension. And we need to just relax with some plain ole fun!
A snappy salute to our HEALTH CARE HEROS! Please know you are appreciated. Take care of yourself!
Words and People 