The Importance of Having a Compassionate Medical Team

In the last 40 days I have spent more than 23 days in some sort of medical faultily: six family doctor trip, four days in the ICU, and the 13 days in the hospital.

During that time I learned a lot of thing that I wouldn’t think I’d learn until I was older. You see, I have four different chronic illnesses. I’ve had two of them since I was young, asthma and migraines. I have never really known a life without them. Then came the gastroparesis and Crohn’s disease – which would be a sudden change in my life. Since I woke up one day at the age 17, life has never been the same.

In the light of things, I did learn major lessons that I will take with me for life. The one that sticks out the most over the last few weeks is the compassionate people have.

During the course of my life so far, I met some truly wonderful people in the medical community. Firstly, my physician assistant who is my primary care physician. I first met him as a little girl. He was young, a few years out of school, and I was weary of doctors. He has been nothing but kind to me since the first time I met him. During most appointments he even gets a smile out of me, even during some of the tough times, with his jokes and such. He believed in me when others called me a faker. He made sure to never give up on my case until I had answers.

On to the ER doctors. I have seen many of them over the years, and one doctor in particular stands out to me. Let’s call him/her Dr. H.

Dr. H has known me over the course of the two years since Crohn’s disease decided to show its nasty face. I have been to him on the roughest of my pain days in need of any relief that I can get. When I go in, he knows what medication works the best and what does not work at all. He sees what is wrong and helps me without making it seem like am a drug seeker. Last night was a bad night that landed me in the ER. He was there and he didn’t order any tests that where not needed. He order pain medicine to get me comfortable and got me home within three hours. That means the world to me.

The back bone to any medical faultily are the nurses. Nurses have an abundance of power. They can break or make the hospital stay, either as a nightmare or as a less traumatic experience. I have had my share of bad nurses, but I want to focus on the good ones – like the nurse who helped me clean the vomit off of me after my MRI, or the one who held my hand when I was having a spinal tap done. These are just a few of the wonderful nurses that I have the experience meeting.

The medical community is a group filled with a vast amount of people that mostly want to help you. If you are not happy, or cannot trust the doctor you have, then move on. Find someone who went into medicine not because of the money, but to help people. All of the doctors and nurses that I have met have made a major impact on my life. They all altered the path of my life, and in some ways, they were the difference of whether I lived or died. They made it possible for me to finish high school and begin college. They are the reason that I am able to write this today and not be in excruciating pain.

Saying “thank you” cannot describe what all the of their actions have meant to me.

We want to hear your story. Become a Mighty contributor here.

Thinkstock Image By: andrei_r