Why I’ll Wait For My Doctor
Last year, I lost someone in my life that I loved, admired, and adored.
My doctor.
Now, I know I’ve harped on this subject plenty of times, but I can assure you I’m not harping today and this post will not be one about wishing he was back, but rather – it’s about a discovery I made – in my brain, of all places.
As I’ve said before, my doctor (I still refer to him as ‘mine’, as – if God wills it, he’ll be my doctor again) was/is the best. If you question my authority on this subject – don’t. It’s just a plain Jane fact. No arguments allowed.
Now, this discovery will incorporate all neurologists who have become Movement Disorder Specialists – young and old, tall and short, round and skinny, blonde-headed or brown.
If you watch TV on Monday evenings, it’s more than likely that you’ve come across a show called ‘House’. It’s a show about a doctor (yes, another doctor show) who is basically, nothing short of a genius. His specialty is solving cases that the regular GP’er can’t even begin to figure out. He’s the Mayo Clinic doctor of all doctors. Rarely do any of his patients pass into the next life.
That’s the ‘job’ of most doctors, right? To determine the source of the symptoms, pinpoint the pain, find a cure for the cause. Most doctors watch their patients walk in, walk out, and don’t wonder when they’ll be meeting up with them again.
This is just not the case with Movement Disorder Specialists, which is why, after my epiphany moment; I now have an even greater respect for these people.
An oncologist has a tough job. That goes without saying. Yet, while they do see many patients breathe their last breath, they also have many patients under their care who are given a new lease on life. An orthopedist is fortunate to have the specialty of fixing up their patients and sending them on their way with say – a new knee. But a Movement Disorder Specialist? Have you ever thought about this? They chose to get into a specific field where they know that the patient referred to them to now be under their care, is another life they will have to, even under the best of care, watch deteriorate and/or eventually come to an end.
I know this is a difficult thought, but please bear with me. When I thought about my doctor (the infamous Dr. Anthony Santiago – superhero Movement Disorder Specialist of the northwest and beyond), I realized that he literally sees his goal as a physician, to try to give the best possible care to those who will most likely not get ‘better’, but rather – get worse with time.
The reason this hit me like it did is that these specialists choose to do this work. They choose to walk beside patients that they know can’t take a pill or undergo chemotherapy or radiation (not that it works for all cancer or other patients with life-threatening diseases) to see if their disease will be eradicated. Instead, an MDS operates with the knowledge that their main purpose is to try to give their patients the best quality of life they possibly can. (I hope this is making sense!)
I guess that’s just another reason Dr. S- was/is so great. You knew, (being his patient) his greatest concern was to make your life the best possible while he fought Little Monster with you. All to say, hats off once again – not just to Dr. Santiago but to all MDS’s out there who have a tough job of not only caring for us PD’ers. Thanks to all of you who care for us and do it so incredibly well.
We appreciate you.
Sherri
