I love and appreciate doctors. I know we live in a Google-everything world, that facing a doctor can sometimes be scary, and that in our current sociological climate, western medicine has lost a little popularity. So let me explain exactly why this mom loves and appreciates doctors…
In September of 2017, I took my husband to the emergency room for abdominal pain and a swollen testicle. After running some tests, an ER doctor walked in and sat down. {If you have ever had an ER doctor sit to talk to you, you know it is probably not good.} She began to apologize and told us that there was a mass in one of his testicles and most often these masses are malignant. Cancer.
And it was. It was cancer. If we went home and said no thanks to treatment, my husband would get sicker and sicker and his cancer would spread and he would not survive. Those were the facts. Instead, we found the best doctors we could under our insurance and now my husband is almost two years cancer-free.
My love for doctors doesn’t end there. In January of 2018, one of my twins was born with an undetected heart condition. She is here, smiling away, because of some amazing people who dedicated their lives to helping others. It would have been the same scenario if we had left the hospital, untreated. My beautiful daughter would probably not be here today, playing with her twin or snuggling with her big sis.
Our family has been in need of many doctors of different specialties over the last eight years for infertility, cancer, nephrology, and cardiology. In that entire time, we have only had ONE doctor who left me questioning his motives. ONE of probably 20 different doctors.
When I look at our family doctor, my OBGYN, my daughter’s amazing care team, and my husband’s incredible oncology group, my one negative experience doesn’t even factor into the equation.
I am thankful for all of our other doctors every time I look at my husband and my daughter.
I have read other posts about avoiding the doctor or posts encouraging others to fear treatment. I know you have seen or read them, too. Do we need to rush to the doctor with every little sniffle? No. But, I beg of you, please, follow your instincts and trust that most doctors are really there to help you. Without them, so many of us would have lost valuable time with our loved ones.
If you are not satisfied with your medical professional, you have the choice and the right to obtain a second, third, fourth, or further opinion. Ask questions, advocate for yourself, and try to look past any bad experiences you may have had. Find yourself a doctor who truly loves and cares for you. They do exist!
To my family’s amazing group of doctors – Dr. Forbes, Dr. Valentini, Dr. Savage, Dr. Heath, Dr. Seabright, Dr. Kobold, Dr. Treist, Dr. Kane, the ER doc, and so many other amazing doctors, I say THANK YOU.
Thank you for dedicating your lives to making others’ lives – like the lives of my husband and daughter – longer and healthier.
