Goodbye and Hello

This journey has brought us many bumps and hurdles, some that were anticipated and some that we didn't see coming.

We have been blessed to have had Dr. S as our family doctor until now. There are very few people that could step into this role and do it with such sensitivity and devotion. Dr. S was by our side through 3 of Tehilla's surgeries and supported us emotionally, physically and medically. He knew when to listen and he knew when to take action. He made all of the right calls and we felt completely secure in his hands. Tehilla's journey has been a tumultuous one, with medical emergencies, common childhood illnesses, development delays and weight gain issues.

He knew to make sure that Ron and I were taking care of ourselves and saw us through the worst moments of our lives. He helped prepare us for everything that we were up against and had some of the hardest conversations with us.

More importantly, our kids adored him. Tehilla would run into his office and bat her eyelashes at him for more stickers. Our kids learned to open up to him and verbalize their own aches and pains.

Dr. S is going in a different direction and leaving the medical clinic that we are part of. Losing Dr. S is a jolting, difficult stage for us. It is effectively losing a key part of our support system.

Our family wishes Dr. S only the greatest success in everything he does! Don't worry, you won't get an awful doctor moniker. To Mrs. S: Thank you for all the late nights, weekends, holidays, early mornings and general continuous care. You all deserve a lot more family time!

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Today, Tehilla met our new doctor, Dr. N. We waited outdoors instead of in the waiting room, away from all the sickies. I had spoken to Tehilla all morning about how we were meeting our new doctor and that he won't hurt her. He wants to listen to her heart and her breathing and meet her. She became anxious when she first saw Dr. N, but quickly warmed to him.

I had already met Dr. N earlier in the week, and had given him Tehilla's 200+ page medical file to read over and her latest discharge papers. He read ALL of them in preparation for Tehilla's "Getting to Know You" appointment. Together, we went through Tehilla's medical history and a run-through of her Fontan recovery. He was very attentive and you could see that Tehilla's story touched him.

He was amazed by Tehilla's development. She was extremely talkative during the appointment (which was a true sign of her being able to cope through the appointment) and was astounded to hear about all the steps we had to do to push her forward with phsyio and speech therapy.

He had a lot of positive things to say and got a good grasp for the new post-Fontan Tehilla, to set as a baseline for himself. He made sure to ask how Ron and I are coping and wanted to hear what we are doing to take care of ourselves.

After we left the appointment, to my shock and amazement, Tehilla said, "He is nice. New doctor is nice. And sweet." I'm in complete agreement. If we can't have Dr. S on the rest of our journey then Dr. N is the right fit for us.