Remember

This experience just popped into my head reading Kathryn's post.

We have to remember, or should I say, make the doctors remember that we are people first and patients second.

This has nothing to do with cancer, but doctors.

I have a pediatrician for my three girls. When she opened up her practice we were one of her first patients. That was over 10 years ago. Because the practice was just starting out, there weren't a tremendous amount of patients. Whether that was the reason she spent good quality time with us, or not, I don't know.

We actually became friends. Nothing social, but we did share much about our lives. I remember when her brother died, she called me and we spoke at length. Which is the reason for this post.

Prior to her brother's accident, I had been in to see her with my little girl. My middle daughter has multiple severe disabilities. She understood our situation, because she, herself, had two brothers that were mentally handicapped. Maybe that's why we were close?

Anyway, I forget what was going on with my daughter, but it wasn't very serious. My doctor called the next night , just to see how Em was doing. I made a strong point of thanking her for her thoughtfulness. She didn't need to call, she wanted to.

You have to understand that in the few years leading up to this and many other visits, we consulted with just about every kind of doctor there is about my daughters "syndrome". Tests, and hospitals, and more tests, and bloods, it just never ended. My point is that we saw many, many doctors. None had the compassion that she did.

So, here is my point of this story... Her brother died in an accident in a group home. She, a doctor, rushed to the hospital. There she was met with resistance, rudeness, lack of empathy, and very little knowledge of her brother's condition. My Doc was in her "white doc coat" and still treated badly. She was floored by the way the doctors treated her. She had, in essence, become the "patient".

She called me soon afterward and wanted to say thank you. You see, she didn't understand why I thanked her for calling that night to check on Emma. She didn't understand what that meant to me. Now she did.

Doctors have to remember that we are people first.

Yes we want the best, and maybe they aren't the best with bedside manner, but really folks, we deserve better.

I have to admit, my pediatricians office has grown leaps and bounds. I don't see her much, because I take any doc I can get. ( by the way, they are all wonderful) But, sad to say, I have seen this office become more of a "mill" than it should be.

Maybe I should remind her of that phone call.

Don't take second best. We deserve to be treated with kindness, respect and empathy. And if you're not getting it, maybe we should remind these docs that we are peolple. We are moms and dads and brothers and sisters, daughters and sons.

And so my story ends.

( I am very emotional today. I am waiting for my bloods to come back and for the first time, I don't feel good about it. I'm scared. I am saddened by those who are struggling and losing this battle. I pray for my semi-colon family everyday.)

Barb