“On June 25, 2011 we will be celebrating an anniversary… I have been able to keep my foot attached for one more year! I remember the look on your face when you came to the examining room in your office and you said “I am not sure I can save that foot!” I knew you weren’t kidding and I knew it would be hard work. Truthfully I did not expect that most of my foot tissue would be gone, but I was very happy to see toes when I woke up.
For the next 50 weeks you listened to me whine and complain about all of the treatments including the casting, skin grafts, debridements , and dressings. I knew you knew what you were doing, but I complained anyway.
In the week since my last appointment with you, I have had a lot of time to think. I learned a valuable lesson. I have learned not to take anything for granted. I have a new insight into the life of being a disabled person who is confined to a wheelchair. I know what it is like to have my activities restricted by my medical condition. Most especially, I learned that if you had not been my doctor in the operating room my foot and lower leg would most likely have been amputated. Thank you for taking the time to save it.
In the 33 years I was in education, I found that teaching (let alone being a principal) could be a thankless profession. Parents complained on a regular basis, but never bothered to say thank you when their child succeeded. Children didn’t appreciate their education until they were grown so they often didn’t say thank you either. I guess that medicine is like that… big on complaints and not so big on thanks. My mother (who said never to pick scabs) also taught me to say “thank you.”
So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work to save my foot. You told me about your heart surgery once and I cannot help but believe that God knew you would be a great doctor with a great mind and great skills. He blessed me because you used those skills on me.
Thank you for taking care of me and for healing me. May God, the greatest healer of all, continue to bless your hands and guide you as you heal others.”
* Results may vary from person to person