National Doctors' Day 2015

Thanking someone for their dedication to their profession is a great gift to them.  I have worked as an R.N. along side of a lot of doctors and I have been the patient and the caregiver of family members.  I have been able to see the life of the doctor from many sides.  In order to really thank the doctors for their commitments and long hours that they spend working at their profession we must stop for a moment and stand in their shoes.  We can have empathy for them when we try to understand that their life is filled with sacrifices, so that we can be healthy and happy.  Empathy leads us to gratitude.  It allows us to understand another person's life and brings us to a better understanding of the person.  The best doctors that I have worked with and been a patient of are the doctors who have mastered themselves empathy for their patients.

From my own experiences with the medical profession, not all doctors are created equal.  Everyone in life comes to their profession with their own set of values, morals and work ethics.  We are who we are, but it does not mean that we can't work on changing and becoming empathic to others.  It does not mean that we have to agree on everything that happens in life or that we become emotionally involved with people.  Empathy does however create an environment conducive to helping our patients get well.  From my side of the fence a great doctor not only cures us with medical treatments, but with empathy for his patients.

Today I am not in the presence of any doctors.  I am healthy because of  great doctors and so are my family members.  I would like to say that I do appreciate the doctors who took that extra minute to acknowledge that I or a family member was not just another diagnosis or whiny patient to see.  They called me by my name and acknowledged that I am human.  They let me speak and didn't dominate the conversation or keep looking at their watch, or cell phone.  They missed their lunch for me.  They sat down beside me rather than stand and intimidate me.  They smiled or even perhaps sighed and admitted they were tired and hungry.  They let me know that even if they could not help me that perhaps another doctor could.  I felt their empathy and I am forever grateful to them.

I hope those doctors realize the gratitude I have for them and I hope they take a moment today to love themselves for the empathy they have showed others.  They are appreciated and they should be proud that we are healthy and happy.

Take a moment today and thank your doctor.

Learn some empathy for doctors tonight and watch the documentary, "Cancer: Emperor of All Maladies" on PBS.  It is a Pulitzer-Price award winning biography by Siddhartha Mukherjee M.D.  I had the pleasure of reading this great book after it was brought to my attention by one of our doctors.  I wish that I had been able to see Dr. Mukherjee speak in person, but I am excited to watch the documentary.  Hopefully people will tune in for the documentary the next three nights.

Life is beautiful !!

Elizabeth:)

A Love Letter To Celebrate Life

My Dear Husband,

I can still see you standing there smiling at me as if it were just yesterday.  Many decades have gone by and you are still smiling at me.  You kiss the back of my neck and whisper in my ear how much you love me and all the difficult days of our life fades away.  We have made it to this peaceful place in our lives and we are celebrating today one of our beautiful creations.  It is hard to believe that so many years have flown by in a blink of our eyes. 

We celebrate our daughter's birthday and the love we have for each other.  We are all here enjoying life and smiling.   We are living and being happy in this moment.  A celebration of life. 

We are enjoying all the little things that we all sometimes take for granted.  The goodnight kiss, the warmth of our bodies resting against each other, holding hands as we walk,  laughing at silly movies, the love notes we leave each other daily, these are loving memories that we will cherish always.  I am reminded that we were meant to be together.   It was meant to be as I look at our children and they remind us that beautiful things happen in life when you are in love.

When I saw you I fell in love and you smiled because you knew......William Shakespeare

Life is Beautiful !!!!

Love, Elizabeth:)

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2015 !!

Another year is here to celebrate the luck of the Irish.  I hope today brings everyone good luck and a pot of gold.   I am off to celebrate with good friends and a special one who was lucky enough to be born on St. Patrick's Day.  Wish me luck, as I am wishing luck for everyone in my life.

My last post was about spring and we are almost there.  Since that post we had two snow storms, ice and frigid cold air.  And now here comes rainy season. Mother Nature graced us with some warmer weather last week and we made it to 70 degrees yesterday.  The rest of the week is not going to be as warm, but at least there is no snow in the forecast.  I am getting excited as I saw some pansies over the weekend.  They love the cool weather and I will be planting some soon.

My husband and I are trying to walk every evening now that it is staying daylight longer.  We are really out of shape and after a mile and a half  I was tired.   There were no trips to the University to walk this winter, as we both needed to rest and going out in the bitter cold did not entice me.  We are hoping to get back in shape and do some more walk-a-thons as the weather is improving.  The Cleveland 10k will be coming up in May.  I am not sure I will be up for it, but it is a goal to keep me moving.

I have spent a lot of time reading this winter.  I just finished reading a good article sent to me by a friend.  It is about how friendships are effected by Cancer.  

Great article and so very true. We have lived through this more than once. It has been 18 years now since my husband's first Cancer diagnosis. We are grateful for our friends who are still with us.

 

Arm's Length: The Distance Between Friendship and Cancer

Before my diagnosis, I (like many) was afraid of cancer. As long as cancer wasn't a part of my inner circle, I could remain euphorically unaware. Many share this...

huffingtonpost.com

 

 Thank you to my friend and a great caregiver of a Cancer survivor for sending me this article.  This article is validation of how Cancer patients and their friendships are effected.  Anyone who has walked down the path with Cancer will certainly know who their strongest friends are.   Blessings to all of them!

Happy St. Patrick's Day !!

Life is beautiful!

Elizabeth:)