Aurora's Blog

I believe that I have mentioned this before, but I just want to make it clear that I was so lucky to have all the doctors, nurses, EMTs, social workers, admin staff, transport staff, cooks, cleaning staff, etc. I don’t know the title of every person who was involved.

I don’t know the names of every person who was involved in my case. I know the names of my electrocardiolgist and my heart surgeon, of course. I know the name of the main receptionist. But if you think about it, from start to finish of a long process spanning two hospitals and many months, at least hundreds of people were involved in my case in some way.

And I am grateful to every one of them. Sure, being in the hospital may not have always been the most fun experience. But the people at Mass General (and at Tufts) did the very best they could to make it the best experience it could be. And I appreciate everyone putting up with me on my worst days and my best days.

I appreciate people putting up with the stubborn me, and the me who hates to take medicines. I appreciate the nurses who wouldn’t leave the room ’til they saw me swallow the medicine since they knew I hated it so much.

I appreciate the first EMTs who convinced me we should go to the hospital the first time. “Why not take a look?” I don’t know your names, but you kind of saved my life. You’ll probably never know it, but thank you.

It’s hard to really pinpoint any one person who saved my life. So many people were involved, and multiple steps had to happen for my problem to be caught and fixed.

Whoever read that first EKG and happened to notice the slight abnormality – might not be alive without that person. That first ER doc who made me promise to get an echocardiogram – might not be alive without him.

The electrocardiologist who saw me from basically the start all the way through the finish, and was so helpful at each step… The heart surgeon who did a gorgeous job and gave me the smallest scar I could hope for while taking phenomenal care of my heart… the night nurse who kept me sane and rubbed my shoulders to make me feel better… the nurses who danced to Thriller with me when we heard it come on a boombox at Tufts…

The family of patients I shared rooms with, and the patients themselves… Hospital volunteers… my friends! Goodness, gracious, my poor friends who had to put up with me as I tried to navigate the waters of how much I wanted to tell and when I wanted support versus when I didn’t…

To these people and so many more – to everyone who was involved in any way shape or form, from the person who cleaned the halls to the person who had his hands on my heart… I am just unbelievably grateful.

There’s a reason people say MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) stands for “Man’s Greatest Hospital.” I can’t imagine a higher standard of care. I was incredibly well taken care of, and I can’t speak highly enough of everyone involved with my experience.

I will never forget all the diligence and kindness I was shown. I will work hard to pass that on to more people. And I will always be grateful to all of you. So, thank you. Thank you so much.

Many of them won’t read this. Many of them got thank you notes (not in blog form), but hopefully everyone knows that I am grateful.