Life On The "T" List...: May 16, 2011

My last two entries were about two extraordinary women, Mom and Christine. As I think about it, I have been pretty fortunate with all of the extraordinary women that have been in my life – my sister, Linda, both of my grandmothers (both went by the nickname of Mommom), as well as countless aunts, cousins, friends and those from Christine’s family as well. And as I get ready for my transplant I want to take a little time to talk about two other extraordinary women who have helped me during this entire kidney transplant journey.

The first person I would like to tell you about is Dr. Sarah Murphy. Dr. Murphy is my Primary Care Physician. I first me Dr. Murphy about twelve years ago when I went along with Christine to her first appointment with Dr. Murphy.

Perhaps I had been spoiled by having such a great pediatrician (Dr. Martin Gaynor) growing up, that I judged all other doctors after him by his standards of practice as a doctor…and as you go through life and your insurance changes and you are forced to find a new doctor, you get a lot of practice trying to find the one you will ultimately be comfortable with. So, on that day during Christine’s first appointment, I had a chance to meet Dr. Murphy, and I was struck mostly by her genuineness. There wasn’t a feeling that we were being rushed, she actually wanted to know about us (even though we were just there for Christine). I was hooked, and from that point on, Dr. Murphy was not only Christine’s new doctor, but mine as well.

Besides being genuine, Dr. Murphy is extremely caring and concerned for our well being. She would think nothing of calling at eleven at night if my labs were a little off to check to see how I was feeling. There was also a time when she had to hospitalize me for pneumonia, and she knew that I wasn’t really happy about it…but I remember waking up in the hospital the next morning, just before five in the morning, and who was at the foot of my bed…Dr. Murphy. Over the years, Dr. Murphy is someone that I have truly been able to count on.

The second extraordinary woman I would like to tell you about is Dr. Melanie Hoenig. Now, if you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you may remember Dr. Hoenig from some of the earlier posts. I was first referred to Dr. Hoenig back in 2004 by Dr. Alan Moses (who was then practicing at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston). Dr. Moses just felt, due to my longevity with Diabetes, that it would be smart to bring a Nephrologist onto “my team” just to keep tabs on my kidneys as I get older living with Diabetes.

Much like Dr. Murphy, Dr. Hoenig is extremely genuine, thoughtful and caring. As the years went by and my kidneys began to show subtle signs of decreasing in function, Dr. Hoenig would reassure me that we would work together to slow the regression of my kidneys…and as my creatinine levels continued to creep up, Dr. Hoenig broached the topic of transplantation.

So when needing a kidney transplant became more and more evident, Dr. Hoenig saw that the subject made me uncomfortable and nervous, and I remember her turning to me and saying, “Don’t worry, I will be with you all the way through it.” In a way, it wasn’t just the words she said, but how she looked in my eyes and said them that told me that this was going to be ok (though, I’m still nervous as hell about the whole thing!).

So, here’s to Dr. Murphy and Dr. Hoenig…thank you for all you have done, along with Tommy donating his kidney to me to me to save my life, you two have also played a big role in saving my life!