I love running into patients like Dominic.

When writing Healing Children, my early drafts included numerous stories of brave, resilient kids and families — many more than we could cover in the space available in the book. When I started looking back, it was amazing to think of the many, many children and parents that have made huge impressions on my life. The passion, the strength, the wisdom and the wit that they’ve shown me influenced the way I practiced medicine and stays with me each day as I think about the best ways to manage a health system.

One of the stories that didn’t make it to the final edition was about Dominic. I met him when he was just 7 months old. He was brought in because of a diaphragmatic hernia–a rare birth defect causing an abnormal opening in the diaphragm. Through surgery, I was able to repair his diaphragm so that he was able to breathe more easily. The procedure saved Dominic’s life at the time, so you can imagine how excited I was to run into him the other day as a healthy, happy 10-year-old!

One of my favorite things is running into former patients like Dominic. I really do love seeing these kids and their families. Often I meet them during the toughest times in their lives and it’s a true pleasure to see them growing up stronger.