|
|
9:58 a.m. - March 22, 2003 March 20, at about 7:20 PM, my surgeon died. No, I wasn't in line for surgery; rather, this wonderful man implanted me with my cochlear implant, and not only that, he's really one of the most wonderful people I know. He didn't treat people like a clinic file or number. He treated them like people he knew, people he would have long-standing relationships with, and of course, like family. He just cared so much. He'd give and give and give, and still recieve so much love and respect in return. He'd make sure everyone who wanted a cochlear implant, got one. He'd find a ways for them to afford one. I saw him last week at a seminar. He gave me a continental kiss on the cheek--it was a little prickly because of his beard. When I left, we spoke a little bit and ended with, "Well, I'll see you soon." "Yeah, I will. Bye." Well, I won't see him again. I would have seen him next week at a meeting. And in the summer at a convention, where he was scheduled to be one of the speakers. But do you know how he died? He was going to a conference in Washington, DC, and was flying a single-engine plane. He was the only one in the plane, and all of a sudden, the plane nose-dived, 3/4 a mile away from the runway. Here's the article: and another: Article from his hometown He's leaving a huge void. How can one ever replace him--a man with such expertise--someone who was considered one of the best surgeons in the whole country, and someone who cared so much about all of his patients? This is what I'm trying to make sense of--how it's going to affect all the families here, not just his own, but the 400+ people he's worked with in cochlear implant surgery, and the many people who were considering him for their surgeon. Life is so strange and hard to understand sometimes. In the midst of watchign CNN, I couldn't help but think that at that moment, my surgeon was more important than the war...simply because he made such an impact on my life, not because of my implant, but by being the person he was. I'll always think of him as a big teddy bear.
|