One Mom's Thank-you To Doctors', First Responders' & Nurses'

May 1st is National Physicians' Day and First Responders’ Day. Nurses’ week is just around the corner starting May 12th. In celebration of these healthcare heroes, I wanted to write about some of my family's positive experiences with each of these professionals over the past year as a tribute to the amazing work they do each day and to showcase the true compassion that lives within these professions.

Before becoming a mom, I was fortunate not to have had a lot of exposure to the healthcare system. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis last Fall. My son has also had some healthcare encounters over the past year. Which has resulted in our family becoming frequent flyers of the healthcare system. 

During our increased exposures to the healthcare system, we have seen some things. Some not so nice things. For example, we overheard a patient getting so mad about the wait times during one of our visits to the Emergency Department that he walked over to the Doctor’s desk and demanded to know how much longer it would be or he would be leaving. The Doctor had to inform this patient that it was his choice to leave if he felt he was well enough to do so and that there were many other patients waiting who couldn’t afford to make that same choice. 

We also overheard an older woman screaming at the top of her lungs declaring they had to “let her the bleep out of here” I had to listen while the Nurse pleaded with this woman to not hit her again. 

During my own hospital stay, a woman barged into my room even though the door had been closed while the Nurses were in the middle of a procedure with me. They had to stop the procedure and try to convince this woman to go back to her own room. The Nurses later told me she was confused and that it was not the first time she had randomly walked into another patient’s room. 

These are only a few examples of situations that truly opened my eyes to what health care workers have to deal with day to day. They were very clear pictures for me to understand that there was no way in hell I could do their jobs. It was an even clearer picture as to what a kind and patient type of person it takes to subject themselves to this possible behavior every day out of their sheer desire to help others and make a difference.

Enough of those stories though, what I’d really like to do is showcase some of the heartwarming memories I have been fortunate to experience with our healthcare workers.

Starting with our first big scary health care system call. We gave our son formula for the first time and when we gave the formula to him, within the hour, he had a severe reaction. When the Paramedics arrived they got us through this event mentally. They stayed so incredibly calm and showed us no signs of fear. They reassured us that they had been where we had been at some point on their own parenting journeys and that they would get our son the help he needed. They reassured us from every detail of his care on the way to the hospital. They even dug out a beautiful handmade quilt to give to him since we didn’t have time to grab much on our way. Thank-you to those who work as Paramedics and get parents through these horrible situations along with all the other situations you navigate with people on their worst days. 

With my own hospital admission, my illness had been going on for quite some time beforehand. I had seen other healthcare professionals before this point and the diagnosis had not yet been concluded. Until one Doctor decided to dig deeper. She knew that what was happening was clearly not a case of food poisoning gone wrong and it was not something where I should just be sent back home again after the fluids picked me back up. 

This Doctor saved me from a bowel removal. She coordinated an emergency CT scan and colonoscopy within an hour when I had previously been told it may take a week or two to get the call. She arranged for a GI Specialist to come and review my case and she listened to me. I mean really listened. They did not have a room for me when I first arrived so she did everything within her power to make the exam room as comfortable as possible until they could get me a room. Thank-you to the Doctors who dig deeper. 

When I did get a room, my son was only five months old at the time. I was horrified to hear that children were not allowed on the floor I would be staying on. The Doctor who took my care over thought it would be wrong to separate a new mom from her five month old. So she assured me that she would ensure he would be allowed visitation during my stay. Thank-you to the Doctors who show empathy. 

Sadly, a few months after I had been discharged my son ended up admitted to a children’s hospital as I mentioned earlier. I was absolutely hysterical one of the first nights. I had reached my max of trying to stay strong and when I was finally in the room with him alone all my emotions exploded out. This poor Doctor walked in during this episode with what was supposed to be a generic update. I expected her to see me like that and turn around and leave me alone. She did not. 

She very calmly walked over and sat across from me. She said “I know there is a lot that is bothering you. I’d like you to try and pick what you think is bothering you the most and we will work our way down from there.” 

I was astounded. Doctors are busy. They have a million things they need to do. This particular one took the time to go through each of my fears and concerns and left me feeling more calm by the time she did leave me in the room alone again. Thank-you to the Doctors who show compassion and take the extra time.

We didn’t get a room right away at the children’s hospital either. When we finally did, we were told that only one parent could stay overnight at a time. I had explained to the Nurse that I was still recovering from my own recent admission and that it would be very difficult for me to manage my son’s care on my own overnight but there was no way I wanted to go home either. She worked it out with her manager for both my husband and I to be able to stay given the circumstances and arranged for a second bed to be set up so that my husband didn’t have to sleep on the floor. Thank-you to the Nurses’ who consider accomadations for families.  

Once we got out from the children’s hospital we had a follow up with our Family Doctor a few weeks later. My husband was with me for the first half of the appointment and I had my own appointment the second half. When it was just my Doctor and I, he said “Being a new parent for anyone is hard. I can’t imagine the stress these past few months have added to that experience for you. I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you that despite everything that has happened you’ve managed to find a way to still be doing a great job with your son.” 

This same Family Doctor had me back in his office a few months later for a routine check up for my son. He asked how everything was going and I was almost in tears. I said “He just won’t eat solids. No matter what I do. He just rejects them.” Our Doctor could have said any number of generic responses about solid food milestones and resources but he didn’t. He instead said “Christian, I promise you that your son will not be twenty years old still eating purees. I know you are probably watching someone else’s baby on TikTok eating a piece of steak and thinking you’re doing something wrong because your son isn’t doing that but you’re not. My son is two and he still rejects certain textures sometimes. So as long as you are offering him a wide variety in whatever consistency he’ll take, that's what’s most important right now. The rest is going to come as he’s ready and gets more teeth.” Thank-you to the Doctors who show kindness and remind us to also show kindness to ourselves. 

The Specialist that visited me during my hospital stay was set to retire. The other Doctors’ were trying to coordinate where they could refer me since they knew of his intention to retire. The closest referral would be an hour away. The Specialist was local. The Specialist said he didn’t want me to have to drive an hour and would be happy to take me on until the new Specialist started. Since seeing him, he has taken so much time to listen to all of my concerns and answer all of my questions. He happened to be working one of the times I ended up back at the Emergency Room for my Colitis. He said he saw my name on the chart and he made some time to assess me himself. He said he didn’t want me to have to wait hours to see the ER Doctor for something they would have ultimately probably called him about anyways. Thank-you to the Doctors who go the extra mile. 

I also have many friends or family members that are Nurses. Man have their phones ever been blown up over the past year with frantic questions from me. I’m so grateful to each Nurse friend or family member who has been my fielder for the Google scaries or the generic new mom "what the hell is this” questions. Thank-you to all the Nurses who answer all their friends and family members non-urgent health care questions.

We’ve had such a personal and ongoing experience with the healthcare system this past year. I felt it was important to me to share some of these moments to commemorate the true compassion that most healthcare workers have. I have so many other examples of the kindness each of the healthcare workers we’ve encountered have shown. Whether it was offering our son a new toy so he wouldn’t be bored, trying to make us more comfortable somehow or explaining something again and again. Each of these health related experiences we went through were awful, yet the only positive reflection I have looking back on each experience is their kindness. 

Here’s to all who work in Healthcare and celebrating Doctors', First Responders' and Nurses' on these days of recognition (they are also awesome on all the other days too). Thank-you for all that you do. You have great impact within our communities.