This weeks lesson:
PATIENTS DO NOT CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW,
UNTIL THEY KNOW THAT YOU CARE.
A professor my first year of grad school spoke those words to us, and I've never forgotten them.
These words continue to be the way I try treat patients (and players) every day. It is easy sometimes to get into a routine, where work is work, and another tommy john surgery is just
another tommy john surgery. But if I could point out one big lesson from this week, it would be that sometimes (most the time actually) the best way to get a patient better is to show them that you care.
My greatest downfall as a therapist seems to be my inability to not take it personally if a patient (or player) is not getting better. In past clinical rotations, as well as this one, I find myself restless at night over certain patients. Its typical for me to come home and spend an hour or two studying and looking up the best ways to treat my patients. But I tend to beat myself up and I can't sleep because I feel like its my fault if they aren't progressing. This has been a struggle for me, especially this week. I have one guy in particular that has been through a lot in the last two years, including seeing multiple specialists, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists and trainers. He has had too many MRIs/Xrays/CTs to count and more cortisone injections than should be possible. And after all this, he still can hardly even hold a baseball bat.
And then I show up. A not-even-brand-new-therapist that wants to take on the world and change the lives of every patient I have. So even though this player in particular has been through the ringer, and seen many people with far more knowledge and experience than me, I went in with full confidence that I could find the missing piece and have him playing baseball again in no time. Unfortunately this has not gone as planned, and I, like a lot of people in his life, feel a little stumped, and nothing I try seems to work. However, I have not given up, and until I have exhausted all options, I probably won't be sleeping anytime soon. On the bright side of all of this, I did come op with something that may possibly help him. When explaining to him why I was doing what I was doing, what I thought was causing his pain, and how I planned on fixing it, I even pulled out an anatomy book and showed him all the different nerves, muscles and bones we were working with. He looked me in the eyes and said, "what I want to know is...why in the last two years has nobody brought this up to me or even mentioned it to me." My response was that either they diidn't take the time to really dig into what the problem was, or that I was completely wrong. We both got a laugh. He said, "either way, thanks for taking the time." Somehow it makes the sleepless nights all worth it. People need to know that firstly we care for them, before we can even start to try and heal them.
Lastly, I threw a picture of the stadium in here. This is pretty much what I see every night when heading out to a game. Beautiful huh? Well also keep in mind its 105 degrees, and then you won't be so jealous.
To Him be the glory,
Katy
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