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I got new glasses! They�re almost the same shape as my old ones, but with cool blue (almost a hematite color) wire frames. Will post a photo of them once I have them in hand.
I had, once again, something else I�d planned to write about today, but instead, I�m sitting here thinking about doctors.
I work in a hospital, a teaching hospital for Harvard University, home to some of the most respected doctors in the medical community. We�re surrounded by other hospitals, all of which are home to other doctors much like ours. I learn little things about medicine every day. But what I learn most is that most doctors have no idea how to deal with a patient. They�re way too busy dealing with the disease.
They forget that attached to that health question is a living, breathing person, who is probably freaked out by their health question, and who is looking to them for guidance and reassurance and help.
The patients don�t expect the doctors to know everything, but they do expect them to be both honest and competent.
Giving a patient an answer like, �I�m not sure what it is, but I�m sure it�s nothing to be concerned about� does not inspire confidence. Nor does an �I can�t figure out what�s wrong with you, so you must be fine. It�s all in your head.� I got that one from an Otolaryngologist once (ear, nose and throat�he was the chief of the department).
I�m lucky. The majority of the doctors I work with DO remember that the patient is their main concern, and treat them as such. But I know the whole medical community isn�t like that, and it�s just not fair.
Anyway�
Off my soapbox�
It�s Thanksgiving Weekend for us in the Jenistar Abode. Yeah, I know Thanksgiving is Thursday, but we�re celebrating with our friends on Sunday. There will be 17 of us for dinner, and I�m really looking forward to it. Right now, there�s a 22-pound turkey in my refrigerator, waiting to be stuffed and roasted. Well, maybe it�s not waiting, exactly, but you know what I mean. I�m looking forward to the chance to just be with my friends, no pressure, no gifts, lots of food. It will be good.
The real, actual Thanksgiving is still up in the air as far as being good, I suppose. We were planning to accompany my aunt and uncle to brunch at the Harvard Club (my aunt got her degree through the Extension School and at 47 became a Harvard graduate�yay, Ruthann!), but she waited too long to make the reservation, so instead we�re headed to her house for dinner.
This would be nice except that my aunt is�well�she�s not a great cook. She�adds things to recipes. Things that don�t necessarily belong there. Things that make the finished product taste�well�not like they�re supposed to taste.
My cousin, who is actually a surprisingly good cook, is making the turkey. I�m bringing a couple side dishes. Mom�s making dessert. We�re banding together in hopes of saving the meal.
On the up side, although the food may be questionable, my aunt and uncle are two of the nicest people in the world, and my grandmother would approve. Makes it feel a little less awful.
Mom was actually at Nana and Papa�s house today. She went up to change the mailing address, so the mail will come to her instead of going there. My cousins moved out this week, leaving the house truly empty. The phone company is disconnecting the phone after the weekend.
After Mom told me that piece of news last night, I sat down and just cried.
For the first time in 50 years, that number won�t reach someone I know and love.
Every time I think I�m used to her being gone, every time it starts to hurt a little less, something comes up and smacks me in the face all over again.
But, this being the season of giving thanks, let me remember how lucky I was to have her, to have had her be important enough to me that it hurts this much to have her be gone.
Yeah. That�s it. Or something.
So happy early Thanksgiving, all.
I really do have a lot to be thankful for.
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