Friday, December 18, 2009

Anatomy

Yesterday we laid in bed until 1:00 AM going over Barbie's anatomy. Wait, let me rephrase that. Yesterday we laid in bed until 1:00 AM reviewing anatomy to prepare Barbie for her final. I was impressed with how well Barbie knew details about every system in the body. She took her tests yesterday, first the lab exam followed by the lecture exam. Today she got her results and was excited to learn that she did extremely well on both exams and got a "B" as her final grade.
I am both proud and amazed at how diligent and unrelenting she was in her efforts to master such a difficult subject. Nobody worked harder than she did. Now she can relax and begin to prepare for a house full of family, beginning tomorrow. Rebecca comes home tomorrow. Barbie's brother, Daniel, comes on Sunday with Emma and their two children Elena and Kevin. Jeremy and Alexandria arrive soon after, while Samuel and Michelle will journey from Southern California to Lincoln the day after Christmas. Barbie's parents and brother Lloyd and his family will also be here from Utah. It will be a wonderful Christmas with so much family so close.

Today I had the opportunity to again speak at Grand Rounds at Kaiser, as we did last year, to give an update on my progress as a patient. The theme of the meeting was miracles and many doctors presented cases of patients who had unexpected recoveries where death and disaster were assumed to be the only outcome. I was the last speaker and spoke not only of the miracle of my own recovery from septic shock after the bone marrow transplant, but how this whole experience has changed me in my interaction with patients now that I have returned to work. I was grateful to be able to share what I have learned. And I still learn new things every day.

Nothing can stop us as long as we have hope. Neither the daunting volume of anatomical terms to memorize nor the ravages of disease; with hope, all things are possible.

Kevin

2 comments:

Wendy said...

Merry Christmas! You've made this year richer through your words!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas to you and your family, another year to be thankful.

Susan