Ever met a doctor you loved? Yup. Ever met one you disliked as much as having to drink the bowel prep for a colonoscopy? Oh, yeah.
For the most part, doctors have chosen the profession of providing health care because they wanted to do no harm and to make a difference by utilizing their education, and skills to cure and heal. But like the rest of us, they too, can stray from their original goals.
March 30th was National Doctor’s Day? I know I am a little late and you would think that with all the medical mayhem I have survived I would have known about this day. But since there are no decorations for this holiday – I love decorating for holidays, I had never heard of this day.
It seems that this holiday was started by the wife of a prominent doctor, Mrs. Eudora Brown Almond in Winder, Georgia. She wanted to create a day to recognize doctors. She mailed out greeting cards to all physicians she knew and placed red carnations on the graves of deceased physicians as well. Eudora chose March 30th as Doctor’s Day because it was when Dr. Crawford W. Long used an ether anesthetic for the first time during surgery in 1842. Although it was not made an actual National holiday until 1991, we still use red carnations for celebrating National Doctor’s Day.
So I was thinking. Why not take a moment or two and send a card to that special doctor that made a difference. Perhaps they did an awesome job sewing you up after you accidentally cut yourself while trying to prepare dinner. Or maybe you fell off your roof while trying to adjust your Satellite Dish and the emergency room doctor was kind and sympathetic. Perhaps you had an indeterminable illness that no one seemed to be able to diagnosed but along came Dr. Thankgoodness and saved you from exploratory surgery.
While, we can always think of physicians who lacked a bedside manner, or seemed to have forgotten all they learned in medical school, lets take some time to acknowledge that there are those physicians who continue to serve, continue to learn and continue to heal.
So even though March 30th as come and gone take a moment to remember those physicians that make or have made a positive difference in your life. A card is good, maybe a red carnation. Personally, having worked for a surgeon and in medical offices I know that food is always welcomed. Therefore, I choose food gifts to give. Well, my choice is always food, but I’ll try to deliver a box of donuts without sampling the merchandise.
And to all those good and caring physicians – thank you for taking such good care of me. May God bless you.