WI-ACHD

Doctors are amazing because their job is very hard to do. Sometimes doctors are on call for days at a time. Just think, if we did not have doctors, some people would not be alive today or they would be very sick. The reason why doctors help people is because they care and they want to do good things for people.
The word hero means many different things to many different people. To some, a paramedic is a hero, to some it may be a member of their family, but to me the word hero means one thing and that is my doctor.
Dr. Earing I think you are the greatest man I have ever met in my life and you always will be. I would not have met you if it was not for my mom. Every year I have a physical and last year at the end of my physical, my mom mentioned to my pediatrician, Dr. Smith, that I have a lump on my toe, so he ordered an x-ray. He had recommended that I see Dr. Konkel, an orthopedic doctor, at the clinic. Dr. Konkel had examined me and noticed that my toes were “clawing” which he said could be a symptom of a connective tissue disorder. He suggested that we make an appointment with a rheumatologist at Children’s Hospital. I saw Dr. Williams at Children’s Hospital who diagnosed me with Benign Hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. As part of Dr. Williams evaluation, he ordered an echocardiogram to rule out mitral valve prolapse (MVP). So I had the echocardiogram done and the echo tech told us that Dr. Williams would get the results later in the week and will call us. Dr. Williams called my mom with the results and said that the good news was that there was no sign of MVP but that they found an incidental finding and that was that I have an anomalous right coronary artery which is a congenital defect. Dr. Williams said that Dr. Earing, the cardiologist, would be calling later in the day to explain in more detail what this all meant. Dr. Earing called my mom and said that he wanted to see us in the office so he could explain my condition more and what needed to be done.

So on May 3, 2010 my Mom and Dad and I had an appointment with you. You told my Mom and Dad first about my heart problem while I was out of the room and then when I came back in you then talked directly to me about my diagnosis. You explained to me that I had an anomalous right coronary artery and this condition affects 0.1% of the population. You also told me about the condition and what it meant. You said that this condition is associated with kids who have collapsed suddenly and died playing sports such as basketball and football. You also told me that in order to fix this problem and never have to worry about it again, that I would have to have open heart surgery. You explained to me how the heart works and why it was important for me to have the surgery done and why it was so important for me to limit my activities until after surgery. That day I was pulled out of gym class and sports and went from being a very active 13-year-old teenage girl to being very limited in the physical activity that I could do until after the surgery. I was too shocked to understand all the details you explained about my surgery but what stood out the most to me was how reassuring and encouraging you made me feel. I really appreciated when you gave me your business card and said that I could e-mail you with any my questions and that made me feel like you really did care about me. I left your office feeling reassured by all of the things you told me and I just wanted to get the surgery done and over with so I could go back to being active again.

The week before my surgery, my parents threw a bonfire party for me and invited our neighbors. I could not believe how many people came because it was really short notice. I mean people canceled plans to come to this. I was so amazed about how much people really do care about me. To really top the neighborhood party off, once it got dark one of my neighbors that lives across the street asked if we could all gather around the bonfire and hold hands (there were about 30 people) and he said a special prayer for me and then we all said the Our Father prayer. It was so cool!!!! The next day we had a family party and that is when I felt like I wanted to cry because my family from both sides came and all my cousins were there. It was a great experience and I thank my family and friends for all being there.

So on July 2, 2010 I had open heart surgery. But when surgery came I was really scared and did not want to have the surgery done because I thought that I was going to die. But I knew in the back of my head that you, Dr. Earing, knew what was best for me and that God was with me every step of the way not to mention my family and friends.

So after my surgery, I was in the hospital for about five days. A week or two later, I went to go see you for a follow-up visit, and you said I was doing great. You said that I would be on restrictions until August 30th or until I had my cardiac stress echo done. So on August 30th I had the cardiac stress echo and you came in to see me and said it looked great and you signed a card that said that I had no restrictions and could start playing sports with no limitations. So it came time to try out for basketball and I e-mailed you to make sure that I was fine to try out and you said yup everything is fine, and good luck. So I went to try out and I felt great just getting back into sports and all. But later during tryouts, I had three asthma attacks. The next day my sister, Amanda, had an Everyday Hero’s concert and you were there because your three girls are in my sister’s grade and because, of course, you were also a hero in the concert. Afterwards I went to go say Hi and you asked me how try outs went and I said, “Well to be honest with you they did not go to good.” I said my chest still hurts a lot and I had three asthma attacks. You later called my mom and said that you wanted to see me in the clinic and ordered a stress echo. So I had to run at 10:00 in the morning…not really my ideal time to go running but I did it anyways. You said that I had exercise-induced asthma and you put me on an Advair Diskus and it has helped so much. Since you have put me on the Advair Diskus, I have not had a lot of trouble with breathing and I have not had one asthma attack since. I was also having a lot of pain in my scar so you put me on naproxen and I still have pain in my chest but not as much as I had before.

Dr. Earing you are a hero to so many people, but especially a hero to me. You have touched my life in so many ways, more than you can even image. I feel I can’t express that enough. I trust you and believe that you know what is best for me. I know as I get older I will continue to be under your care. My past experiences with you have shown me how divine you are and I don’t use the term divine lightly. I could always look at you and see your mind working; you were so determined to help me understand that the pain I was feeling was real but that my heart problem was fixed. I do now understand that my heart is fully fixed and appreciate you reassuring me of this. I also understand that I have exercise-induced asthma and need to take medication everyday and before I exercise. Dr. Earing I still feel like you are helping me to understand that I don’t have any physical restrictions even though I still have some pain. You are also helping me understand more about my condition in a scientific way… which I personally think is totally awesome. I can’t thank you enough Dr. Earing for replying to ALL of my e-mails and answering ALL of my questions. I feel that you saved my life because I believe that everyone makes mistakes, so maybe if a different cardiologist would have examined my echocardiogram they might have missed what you found. Therefore, I think you are a hero because of ALL that you have done for me.

What are heroic qualities? Caring - Dr. Earing you are so caring to me and you listen to what I have to say. Trust - is a very strong word and it takes a lot to have full trust in someone but Dr. Earing you have earned my trust the first time I met you. I trust you 110% even if I don’t like what you have to say to me, I still listen because I know you know what’s best for me. I also appreciate your analogies. Another reason why I trust you 110% is because you flat out tell me if something is going to hurt or how something should be, and if the pain I am feeling is legit. You are very honest with me and upfront. Also, Dr. Earing you always tell me what you think is the best option for me. Dedication - doctors have to be really dedicated to their job, they also have to love doing it. From what I have seen and heard, you are very dedicated to your job and your patients and I know for a fact you have been dedicated to me.

I want to thank you for all that you have done for me. I was so worried about having surgery, but you reassured me in so many ways. You said that if I had any questions to make sure that I ask you and you would answer them (I bet you have had second thoughts about giving out your e-mail address again, ha, ha). I had tons of questions and I appreciate so much how quickly you answered them - all within 24 hours. I love knowing that I can ask my doctor anything and you will answer with 110% honesty. Dr. Earing, I also feel that you know what’s best for me. When my family and I went to see you for the first time to talk about the surgery in detail, I was getting really freaked out. What helped me not get as freaked out is when you told me that this is a totally safe surgery and that surgeons do this type of surgery all the time. In fact, you said a lot of things to make me feel better and I trusted you. Dr. Earing you made me feel reassured that I would have a successful surgery and that made me feel a thousand times better.
Dr. Earing, I can’t thank you enough for all that you have done for me. You truly are my number one hero, and you will always be my number one hero. Sam Guido ACHD Patient Age