Barbara and Hudson!
Nicole with her dad and Hudson
Us with Dr. Braun and his wife Ginny, along with Tyler and Katie our cousins.
Hudson likes his toes!.JPG)
The Pope's, Barbara's neighbors who are so cute and check on Barb.Hudson laughing at life's simple pleasures!
We went to Dallas this past weekend and had a great visit with Barbara. She is holding up pretty well after 5 rounds of chemo. We stayed with Jeannie, Wayne, Tyler and Katie (Nicole’s aunt, uncle and cousins) and saw a bunch of visitors – including Dr. Braun (who delivered Nicole!), Bev (Nicole’s French teacher), Robert (Nicole’s dad), Kramer (Nicole’s high school history teacher), and Barb’s neighbors.
I feel like I am impressed upon pretty easily. I feel like my world view seems to change week to week.
Last Thursday we had Medicine Grand Rounds with Roy Williams, the coach of the UNC basketball team who won the national championship last year, and the coach with the highest active winning percentage, and a hall of fame coach. I was sitting there listening to a living legend, who was talking about how he got to where he was (hard work) and lessons about leadership. It made me want to be a great leader and make a mark in the world.
Last weekend I was spending time with Barbara, and listening to her experience as a patient. Throughout the whole experience being a cancer patient, we have had to worry about metastasis, side effects, chest pain, uncertainty, thoughts of mortality, immunosuppression. I’ve seen it before in our cancer patients we take care of. The past week she has had some throat/neck pain that was very disabling and made her feel so lousy. But with a steroid, her inflammation went away and the next 2 days she was so happy and full of energy, that she was able to spend time with us and especially with Hudson. That simple ability to enjoy life made me realize that all I want to do is make patients feel better.
And when we visited with Barb’s neighbors, the Pope’s, who are in their 80’s and the husband, James Pope, was so happy to visit with Nicole and meet Hudson, it was humbling to see such simple pleasures of life mean so much. He has battled cancer twice and is still able to enjoy life.
Some days I want to save the world, and others I just want to make someone feel better, or help a nice elderly couple enjoy life a little more. Some days I want to live a life of adventure and exotic travel, and others I just want to see Hudson and Nicole roll around on the floor. My mind seems to change and wander.
