" I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug. "
I had been undergoing a health struggle for a prolonged period. I had navigated multiple doctors and doctors' offices, and after long and excruciating three months, I had finally found my way to a specialist. I was relieved but still weary as I sat waiting to be seen. I had traveled to another city in the hope that she could help me, potentially even cure me. But, what if she couldn't help? What if I was to be stuck like this?
Precisely on-time, the doctor entered the room. She introduced herself, examined me, and we talked for a while. We discussed diagnoses, treatments, and the like. She listened to me, as a patient, and I listened to her, as a medical provider. And, as the appointment was concluding, I found myself feeling a slight tremor of hope within my soul. Perhaps, I could be cured. Perhaps, this treatment would work. But, despite this rising hope, I knew that it would be neither instant nor without difficulty. Perhaps, despair would accompany my being a little while longer.
Then, something happened that I had never experienced in a medical office. Before she got up to leave, the doctor extended her arms and embraced me in a gentle hug. She told me that she was hopeful and that everything would be all-right. This was a wonderful hug. It was amazing care. The doctor did just as much for me in that hug as she did in the medicines that she prescribed.
May your doctors care too.