Above and Beyond

[Corbin]

I wanted to share this little story with you, because I had never heard anything like this, and I have worked in health care for many years.

My father in law has been a surgeon for many many years. He is nearing retirement, but it's hard for him to give up practicing medicine, so he still sees patients in a small town clinic. DH and I live about two hours away, in Bigtown. Anyway, FIL called us last night and mentioned that he was in town, so we got together for a visit. Turns out he had a patient he was worried about, who needed a procedure that couldn't be done in the clinic...So FIL drove the patient to Bigtown himself! Most patients are lucky to get more than a few moments with their doctor!

I think it says a lot about the kind of doctor, and the kind of person, my FIL is. I am honored to be a member of his family, and to have him as a member of mine!

[Julep]

That's so wonderful.

I suffer fairly regularly from migraines that just about aren't treatable, but while I was in college, I went to a neurologist who would give me a shot of something when I needed it, and it actually did help. The ER wouldn't give me this stuff (small town hospital, they were very conservative about what meds they'd administer unless you were an inpatient). TBH, a later neurologist in another town refused to give it to me, saying it wasn't safe, and I have since forgotten what it was, but that's neither here nor there.

So early one Saturday morning, I woke up at 2am in screaming pain. It was the first time I'd had one in months, and I had no idea what to do. I spent an hour or two going back and forth from crying to moaning to wanting to kill myself (literally, the pain was so intense). At some point I had a moment where my brain mapped out the six degrees of separation, where I suddenly realized that my friend's mom went to church with the sister of the nurse practitioner at the office. Like I said, small town.

I can't think of another time in my life that I would have done this, but I called my friend at home (she lived with her parents). Through my sobs, I apologized and apologized, and told her what I'd figured out. She got off the phone, and called me back about ten minutes later to tell me that her mom had called her friend from church, who was going to call her sister right away. Bless every one of their hearts, because I think by then I was wondering whether jail time for breaking into a doctor's office and giving myself a shot would be better than this pain.

The nurse practitioner was at my front door just ten or fifteen minutes later. She drove me to the office and gave me the shot. Then she sat in the dark examining room with me for about half an hour and kinda momishly rubbed my back while I probably whimpered a lot, waiting for it to work. She drove me back home and made sure I was tucked into bed before locking herself out and slipping the key back under the door.

For the rest of the time I lived in that town, I brought all the staff of that practice each of their favorite shakes and drinks from Sonic every Friday. That kind of above and beyond just really stays with you.

[Dr Momz]

The nurse practitioner was at my front door just ten or fifteen minutes later. She drove me to the office and gave me the shot. Then she sat in the dark examining room with me for about half an hour and kinda momishly rubbed my back while I probably whimpered a lot, waiting for it to work. She drove me back home and made sure I was tucked into bed before locking herself out and slipping the key back under the door.

That's why we say    "Nurse Practitioners: brain of a doctor; heart of a nurse".








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