Yes, that is what it is all about. When I returned to work, one of my coworkers was out sick, we soon learned that she has ALS. I could agree with you more, we got the chance to work through it all.

If you were in the hospital, please send a note of thanks to the staff of the unit you were in. And if you get a Hospital questionnaire please fill it out and be honest when answering your questions. Thats the only way we know we are doing our job well and what we can do to improve ourselves in managing our patients care. Most of the nursing staff do their very best in patient care but sometimes we have one bad apple that makes the rest of the staff look awful. Believe it or not our Press Ganey scores make a lot of difference to us, it lets us know how we rank Nationally in patient care, and we want to be the very best.
Hugs
Ferr

Good evening,

I don't mean to be a grinch..but I was mis-diagnosed by a physicians assistant on xmas eve last year which led to much more serious PE problems not long after. I also can't say my primary doctor has done anything special for me in the last year either as just about every bit of real education on my condition was left to my own doing. Other than the Hospital staff (which were top notch), I have mixed feelings about the quality of medical care at doctors offices and urgent care facilities who generally give you about 10-15 minutes of their time and on to the next patient they go.

On the bright side..this xmas will likely be better than the last one as thats when I was wheeled into the hospital last year!

Take care,
Robert

Well, it's like anything; there are outstanding people in their professions and then there are some real worthless turds. I work in a Legal Department with attorneys. I often think, holy cow, how did some of them ever graduate from law school, considering how they're incredibly lame and lazy.

I remember when I was in high school, I had this chump of a geometry teacher. He was such a lazy, crappy teacher. Even as a 15 year old knew that. But there were a couple of teachers who really championed for me and made me see myself for more than I thought I was. And I gave them all thank you cards the day I graduated.

I always tell my current Internist (fired the last two before him) that I feel like he and I have a wonderful thing going because he hasn't killed me yet. He laughs but then says that he can totally understand my concerns considering that I've been burned before. He used that term "burned before." I think, wow, he really does get it.

So, I say, gratitude is a beautiful thing despite the schmucks along the way. I had three different doctors misdiagnose my PE/DVT and then an ER doc saved my life. I am forever thankful to him and I wonder if he knows that the people he helped feel that way about him.

Yes RMB, I agree...never a good thing to lump everyone into the same category.

Sometimes, when I'm irked about something (hard to believe that ever happens) I do lump everyone together. You should see me when I'm on one of my local government employee rants. Holy cow. Ok, my brother works for the city and my mother retired from the county, and they are both tremendous people. Doesn't matter. I lump them all in the same pot when I get going. So, I have to remind myself, geez, Rachelle, lighten up.

I do agree partially with you Robert as I had a PA at an Urgent Care tell me my asthma was uncontrolled and sent me home to bed ... a night before I wound up in the hospital with multiple bilateral PEs. He's not getting any candy from me.

But, honestly, I'm bad at saying thank you for the folks I really DO appreciate. My primary's office has been fantastic and having their help has made recovery that much easier. I don't have to worry about my doc, which is not a luxury everyone has. And I wanted to do something outside my comfort zone and give an honest thanks to the folks who kept me alive.

I'm not saying everyone deserves it, just that we really should try harder to give a pat on the back to people who DO deserve one. And what better time a year?