Everyone's a Doctor

As many of you know, in February I had open heart surgery. I can tell you the experience of being told at the age of 28 (or at any age I'm sure), without surgical intervention, you will not see the coming summer will jar you. You listen closely to physicians and family and friends. You hug your children just a little longer. I must confess, I wanted my mommy and daddy.

The surgery date came; the operation went perfectly; recovery begins... It is at this juncture — recovery — that I discovered everyone is a doctor. While in the hospital, attending physicians would enter the room, spout facts, examine scars, order labs, hear complaints, say everything is going perfectly, give details as to what will happen next, and move on the the next patient. Somewhere in the midst of all that attending doctors diatribe my family and friends achieved their degrees.

If I complained of medicinal side-effects, the doctor would change the meds. Family would say I knew as soon as we changed the meds you would be better. If I walked a little extra and was a little more tired, I would hear, I knew you were overdoing it.

At home, they were a little less bold. If I were to say, pour myself a glass of milk, they lead with a question, "Is that heavy for you?" My reply of, "Yeah, it kinda of hurts," leads their medical minds to say, "You shouldn't be doing that, let me do it for you."

Upon returning to work, friends and colleagues ask questions like, should you be hear, followed by their medical advice, you should probably go home. Often times, they offer their assessments: "Your color looks good today," "You're looking better," or "Your looking pretty tired."

It seems all of my friends and family know exactly what I should be doing... "you should be resting," you should walk more," you should be eating better."

At first, having so many physicians around was kind of frustrating. I kept reminding people that I am the only one that knows how I feel and that I am have been talking to REAL doctors.

Then I had an epiphany. All of my "would be" medical geniuses are really just loving family and friends. Each one is someone who has prayed for me, encouraged me, supported me, and loved me. All of their advice has nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with love. So, I would like to say thank you to all my physicians. Thank you for your love and support and advice and meals and help and hope and kindness. You have made the recovery process easier, even when I didn't understand. Thank you all!