Eyes on the Boy

Yesterday we met with Dr. Cantor, the new GI doctor in Columbia. This is the first time that John will have a local GI doc. Eventually as we move farther out from transplant I wonder what this will mean for John, but for now it means that we have a local doctor who can set up the monthly infusions that John needs. As we went through John's med list yesterday the doctor was saying how it's a lot and well it is, but in my head I was thinking about the number of doctors that the kid sees, and well that's a lot too. There is of course a herd of transplant/liver team doctors in Omaha, the ones most familiar with John's case are Dr. Mercer, surgeon, and Dr. Fisher, GI, but then of course their is the other GI doc, Dr. Antonson, and the other surgeons, Dr. Grant, Dr. Botha and Dr. Langnas. In Columbia there is Dr. Beal, John's pediatrician who is just amazing even if he doesn't have privileges at the University hospital where John has gone when he is sick. Dr. Beal has a really unique viewpoint on life, old enough to have many years of experience and the wisdom learned from that and yet young enough (at heart, or chronologically, heart seems to matter more) to keep abreast of new things and be open to new ideas. Dr. Cantor, the aforementioned GI doc. Dr. Groshong a wizened nephrologist who keeps an eye on John's kidneys and blood pressure. Dr. Emmerson and the physical medicine and rehab team who keep an eye on things like is John's spine beginning to curve, does he need new braces, chair parts, etc. Then of course there are the doctors at the hospital who all know him and care for him when he is ill. In St. Louis is Dr. Austin, urologist, who did John's bladder surgery and keeps an eye on some of those issues. It makes me realize both how much help John needs to stay in this life and reach his full potential, how precious life is that all this is so worth it, and how blessed we are to live in the midst of people who have dedicated their lives to taking care of others. This list doesn't even begin to touch the countless nurses, lab people, therapists and such, of course, because for every doctor there is a good dozen or so of the others, who make the doctors jobs doable and add to the blessings of John's life.