I Am Elated

CancerGeek
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read

by Cancergeek

On my flight to Toronto last evening, I had the privilege of sitting next to two wonderful and interesting individuals.

Through our conversation, I came to learn that the one gentleman had just bought a one-way ticket to Toronto. He didn’t know how long he was planning to stay. He was doing some exploring for work, some personal research, and taking time to learn and experience the city of Toronto.

The other individual happened to be a young executive working in the automotive industry.

She then shared with me her passion.

Holistic Medicine.

She lit up when she began describing to me that she was pursuing a degree in holistic medicine. That her intent was to finish and then to go on to obtain a Ph.D. in the same field of study.

She then asked me to explain my screen saver:

I told her about how I see the world of health/care.

I shared with her that I believe it is imperative to return to the nostalgia of medicine — focusing on two people in a room, a patient and a physician.

Two people taking the time to build a relationship.

Two people spending the time, to build trust with one another, to share a transparent dialogue, to set expectations, and then to help manage the transitions of care for the patient.

Her response was, “Fuck yeah!!”

She then asked me,

“Would you say that you are elated with life?”

I paused.

I thought about the question.

I simply responded, YES!

I told her I feel extremely lucky and fortunate to do the work that I do.

I feel privileged.

I feel lucky.

Early in my life I knew I wanted to help people.

I wanted to do something that would make an impact in someone’s life.

I wanted to be able to listen to people. To learn about people. To understand people. To have an opportunity to view the world through the eyes of another person.

To use that understanding to deliver the needs set forth by that individual and individuals.

I thanked her for her question.

Her question reminded me that I do work that not everyone can do.

My work is making difficult change happen.

Change at the N of 1.

To both of you, if you are reading this, thank you for the reminder, the stories, and for impacting me at the N of 1.

As always feel free to email me at cancergeek@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter as cancergeek.

~Cancergeek

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CancerGeek

Written by

Sr Marketing Dir N./S. America; BoD Precision Medicine China; Healthcare ruckusmaker; #radiology #radonc Observe #GFHC at #Nof1 https://youtu.be/PfM3hLyfHf8

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