Congratulations to my sister who has now made it to the ripe old’ age of 30, I was reflecting on this today as yesterday I saw my oldest patient ever; 104, can you believe it and she was as sprite as ever, in fact she may be my favorite patient ever because her hearing wasn’t so great and she kept yelling “you are so handsome”, and how could I argue. She was accompanied by her daughter of 88 years, both with big smiles and a joy in their voices. This I figure is a testament to family support and a good attitude. Turns out she was there for some ulcers that had started developing on her legs, as I was yelling and laughing with her I could only think that after 104 years I hope I am not the one to do her in…..but she is coming back next week and I look foreword to her years of wisdom and laughter.
September 27’th officially marks my first full year of practice, I have learned a lot about myself and about the world this year, how can you not when you are surrounded by new cultures, large families, tons of kids and all the struggles that regular people face on a day by day basis. I have questioned many thing from the foundations of a good society to how you can keep a fussy 2 year old from high tailing it out of the room when you are trying to visualize his tonsils. I have realized that as I reflect today on my year; all the painful long days, millions of charts and overcoming the social barriers that exist to make patient care even harder; that it is worth it, and that at the end of the day I can’t help but see the joy in the experience of it all. (Of course I say this from the comfort of my den) I am forwarding all of you an article called health and wealth, it was written by an emergency room physician who has come to many conclusions during his 28 or so years working at the University of Washington and throughout the state. It may be the single best recount I have ever read regarding what truly does make for good health in a society. All of us, even those in the medical community have come to the conclusion that good health comes from access to care or weather or not we spend our 30 minutes on the treadmill, but this article challenges very well this idea and proposes the thought that the economic hardships and social discrepancies that exist in society more often reflect the health of it’s people. Just being an American means we are statistically going to die younger no matter how much health care we get, even the wealthiest 10 percent. One could speculate for quite some time why this is, and I would love to hear everyone’s input on this matter. The article is 8 pages and is a bit long but fascinating, if you have 30 minutes let me know what you think, I would love to have a discussion.
Maybe it is not worth it to care about society’s needs, better to live in an environment bathed in our own “necessities”, but I can’t help not to think, that as a Christian or not, we can not see the benefits that come from denying our primal instincts and focus on the needs of others that share this world with us. I was thinking last night when I was watching the movie Sahara that we always are so disgusted about the idea of “civil” war but is all war not as gruesome? (Sorry side thought) Anyway I am bothered (again a side thought) about any leader who bases his decisions based on his or her “gut”! time tested idea is that the human gut instinct is not always the correct response for the given situation. I guess it is like an autoimmune disease, the immune system is set up to protect us from harm and illness, but it can’t think, it finds a fit and kills it, it is preprogrammed to respond to harm or what it has been told is harmful to self. Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes and tons of other diseases are a result of its lack of ability to stop and take a look at its actions. Humans for some reason have the ability to self reflect on this lock and key idea, all good systems are open to faulty programming and must be checked to avoid overkill. I am afraid we as a society are like an autoimmune disease, faulty thoughts have entered a system based on poor interpretation of society’s laws and God’s laws, the self indulgence to give into our innate survival instincts works against society as a whole. We are an autoimmune society,
Ok, sorry about the run of ideas but I just went with it. I am in the mood to contemplate my life’s purpose today and I feel I am making circles. I am trying to find some kind of reason for it all I guess. I sit in church and think I will find it there (the closest I have come), I watch TV and figure maybe it will be there, I follow politics thinking it will be there, I love my wife figuring it will be there, I think about beginning a family and maybe it will be there? I guess I am finding that there is no answer to life’s most essential why. And as always I am tormented by this thought, because how can this question be left for interpretation?
This year has been a growing experience, I find trying to help people avoid death and pain (essentially my job) I am left wondering not only how I can be the best at this but in the end what is the purpose of it in the first place. I do it because in my mind it is essential, but in the real world, where does this have its place, is it time that is of value, quality that is of value, is family experience and love the essential element, is it worth it to strive for a peaceful coexistence, a “fair” world (which is still left for interpretation). If this life is an experiment then what purpose does that serve?.
I figure myself to be an impatient person because maybe I lack the ability to take it all for what it is worth, But I wonder sometimes what other people think about this, and I guess I am asking if all of you who receive this mail, weather you read the attached article or not could weigh in with your experiences on what you think the point of it is (life). In the wake of many of the miserable things that happen in the world, I hope that there is still something worth working for, and I want to know why we should. If you want drop a response to everyone here, I am sure we could all use a little input on this issue, (or I am afraid all of a sudden that I am the only one wondering). Anyway Congratulations again to my sister who is now 30. And I hope for one reason or another we will all be able to make every minute count, because I think it matters, although I don’t know why!!!

And A good day to all,
Sincerely, Stephen