Affirmation

It happened at least twice a year, after birthdays and Christmas:

"You make sure to write those thank-you notes to the folks that sent you such nice presents, Wes."

"Ah, Mom, do I have to?"

"Yes you do. Just sit down and get it done. Then you can take it off your list of things to do."

* * *
Medicine is a complicated enterprise, with a myriad of talented individuals who work together to achieve a common goal: the care of our patients. While I often rail on this blog about certain aspects of healthcare that frustrate me, I find it is the patients themselves that reaffirm time and time again why I do what I do.

Throughout my career as a doctor, I have always prized thank you notes. They are sincere, gracious acknowledgements of our efforts, and the written word takes just a bit more effort than verbal one and can be cherished for years.

But none of us work in a vacuum. Behind every instance of care that doctors provide, there are a myriad of individuals who have helped sculpt the patient's experience.

So for the secretaries who took the calls,
the nurses who checked and rechecked the particulars,
the nurse practitioners who followed-up,
the technicians who were at the monitors,
the hospital administrators who maintained the facilities,
the phlebotomists who drew the blood,
the engineers who developed the technology,
the companies that made these devices,
and doctors who conceived of the technology,
and the researchers who brought biventricular pacing to fruition...

...this one's for you (used with patient permission):

Click to enlarge

-Wes