Pondering a good Dr.

I often wonder if I would have been a good Dr. if I had been able to follow my plan and attend medical school. Lupus and a turn of events made it almost impossible for me to place myself under so much stress and sheer torture. I was not strong enough both physically and emotionally at the time I was in pre-med. 1988 was the year I decided after having made straight A's in biology, anatomy and physiology. Math is another issue. Science has always interested me yet it was not a focus for most girls when I was growing up and Modern Dance was my focus in high school which left me ill prepared for some of the higher science-math classes. Interesting enough I am very good with math now in the area of calculations and budgets. I am good with money. Yet calculators were always at hand when we were growing up and it is a shame. Now we use computers for everything and have forgotten how to spell and write. The point is I had a drive and a passion for understanding the human body and healing disease. No wonder with a mother who died at age 27. She was so young and full of life and I being 8 years of age did not understand fully why? I knew good Dr.'s and researchers would find a cure one day for cancer, auto immune disorders and other diseases. We have come a short way in many regards. I think the technology is there but let's be realistic....The medical-pharmaceutical industry, while helping people, is also a money making machine. Then add insurance lobbyists and we may never know a truly preventative health care system which finds cures and makes less money doing it. That being said Dr.'s, nurses and researchers are the ones who do the work and help the patients heal. They find the tools, causes, cures and they care for the patients and their families as if they are a part of the family, in many cases. They do not do it for money or ego. Some do, don't think I am naive. I have been blessed to have great Dr.'s, nurses and researchers with whom I work on my healing journey. I could honor the whole bunch, and I will at some point in my book, but now I want to pay homage to Dr. McCune who you know to be my lupus Dr.

After his professorship installation on Wednesday I pondered what the speakers said about their colleague and the great joy we each took in his success and his humility. I was reminded why he is an amazing clinician and researcher who started out as a history major. Then I recalled what one man said about the "style" for which McCune has been famous, and I am not talking about not his signature bow tie. His patient care style is of what I speak. He tells stories and weaves in history lessons, little bits of random knowledge few would know and ties it all up in a lesson about the disease itself and the issue at hand. I leave my appointments writing down notes of things I want to look up in the dictionary or encyclopedia (google). I learn more in those 15 minutes sometimes than an hour of reading the Economist. I say this because it is a style which he created or naturally is just who he is. It says a tremendous about him as a person. He talks of his family and makes correlations to his life and other people whom have touched or inspired him in some way. He connects the dots in a weird fashion. In the end I might forget to ask questions or tell him certain things going on with my body but I can always follow up with an email. He, in a sly way, distracts the patient from focusing on the negative aspects of the disease while passing along nuggets of knowledge. Then a hesitant hug, he never used to be a hugger, I feel cared for as opposed to being a number in a chart. (he now has become a good hugger).

It is his dedication to making patients lives better which makes him a great Dr. aside from all the titles, faculty status, degrees, smarts, awards etc.; he is just a simple man with simple needs and a passion for what he does. In the end will he be known for great discoveries or excellent patient care? Or will he be known for being an eccentric, knowledgeable, humble, compassionate, humorous (if you are smart enough to get it) man and a good father, loving and admiring husband, devoted son and inspirational and supportive world renowned specialist and mentor. I know him as Joe. My good Dr. and friend who has been there for me and my husband at all hours of the day and night even when he is on vacation or eating Thanksgiving dinner. I have always had the security of knowing he was a call, beeper or email away. That is rare indeed. I also admire the way he inspires me to be a fighter and a good person. He encourages exercise, being out in the garden, living life and taking quality over quantity, while striving for quality along the way. "So cheers To You Joe !!!". Now I know I would have made a good Dr. because I would have had he and so many healers as role models and that is a blessing of which I do not take lightly. For now I will settle for healing myself. "Healer heal thyself".