Thanksgiving -- without irony

I have a special feeling of thankfulness this year -- for my surgeon and for the always pleasant, always efficient, always responsive nursing staff at Northside Hospital. As far as feeling taken care of, this was the best hospital experience I have had.

First, my surgeon, Dr. Deborah Martin, apparently did an (almost) unheralded, heroic job of turning what could have been a disaster (my gall bladder was on the point of rupture) into a routine surgery and post-op course. The first hint I had to how close I came was when the infectious disease consultant came in to see me two days after surgery and said, admiringly, "Dr. Martin saved your life."

Second, the nursing staff at Northside is simply without peer, in my limited in-patient experience. Starting with the simple fact that not a single member of that staff (from head nurse down to cleaning crew) failed to introduce him/herself, telling me their names and what they were there to do for me. They were unfailingly immediately available and solicitous and never left the room without asking, "is there anything else I can do for you?" No one ever seemed too busy to attend to my needs -- and right away, or else they explained why it would take a little while and approximately how long, and it usually took less. Seemingly little things add up, and this sum was a positive.

Third -- but really first -- is the loving gratitude that I feel for my two daughters, Joanna and Barbara, one of whom (taking turns) never left me from the moment I needed to go to the ER on Saturday night, until I insisted, after being home for a couple of days, that I really didn't need one of them to stay overnight now. This was, of course, at some sacrifice for them and their families, upsetting their work and family schedules. But they gave it freely without complaint, even minimizing what it took for them to rearrange their lives, and not at the most opportune time for them either.

When I complimented the nursing care to the head nurses, they invariably gave credit to my daughters, saying that they had rarely had a family who was so helpful and made their job easier.

Fourth -- I sincerely appreciate the many friends, colleagues, and neighbors whose calls, visits, cards and gifts of food and flowers expressed caring and concern.

Writing a blog is no substitute for telling all these people of my love and gratitude in person, which I intend to continuing doing as well.

The lesson for me in all this -- besides a first-hand awareness of the gift of health and those who help restore it when things go awry -- is the hardest: that it is also a blessing to "receive," as well as to give. Letting oneself be taken care of, letting friends express their love and concern -- and just "receiving" the gift with a simple "thank you" is often the thing to do.

As one of my daughters admonished me, when it seemed I was wanting to make up for the time she had taken off from work by doing something to "repay" her: if I did that, it robbed her of feeling that she was giving something to me out of love.

Sometimes it's is more blessed to receive than always to do the giving.

Ralph