On My Own, In More Ways Than One
Seven months out of school and four months into my job, life
simply could not be better! The resiliency of the human spirit is amazing, and
I never could have guessed that I can feel this level of happiness and
contentment after...now I can finally confess it...being dumped last June, in the
midst of residency, by my husband of 30 years for a younger woman.
Well-meaning friends can't seem to resist playing
matchmaker, unbelieving that I can be completely fulfilled being unattached and
spending most of my free time alone. Most cannot fathom that a "job" can bring
such joy and fulfillment.
It certainly can. And does.
In a 4-month time frame, I am seeing the results of
effective, evidence-based chronic disease management, with improved blood
pressures, optimized A1c's and better lipid parameters. I have received correspondence from specialists to whom I'd referred patients that confirmed my
diagnoses. I see on a nearly daily basis patients returning for follow-up of
correctly treated acute conditions.
The nurses in my clinic are surprised, pleasantly, that I
enjoy calling my patients with lab results and instructions. The lab has
noticed an increased volume of fetal occult blood test (FOBT) cards mailed back
for testing. Most of my patients cannot afford colonoscopies and I will spend extra time teaching them the FOBT procedure, telling them that it's very
important to me that they perform this home test. The personal attention seems
to have reaped tangible results.
Through the worst of times, I tried to live by the precept
in the wonderful, life-transforming book The
New Earth by Eckhard Tolle, "Accept what is." Is it obvious that "what is"
feels pretty good right now?