Robert Skaf

Review of Thunder Bay Regional Health an...

A TRIBUTE

A TRIBUTE
THE MIRACLE WORKERS OF HUMANITY

Recently, I ended up in the hospital. An infection caused my left leg to triple in size. Confined to bed, a major effort was required to turn or sit. Walking was out of the question.
At the beginning, the pain was excruciating, both mentally and physically. I have never been confined to a bed before. I soon discovered that for an active person, being immobile is worse than being in prison. Needless to say, my mental, emotional and psychological state went down the tube along with my physical ability.
This was a crisis never experienced before in my life. The fear of losing my leg, or even dying, brought on a severe depression. The thought of losing my business and becoming dependent on my children frightened me.
Luckily, this state of mind did not last long. Once my care givers took over, a miracle started to unfold. A new bright outlook of hope and trust took over. Although, I had complete confidence in our medical community, I have never imagined them performing miracles.
Within days, the pain started to subside and the infection that spread to my upper thigh started to recede. Shortly after, my normal way of life would be restored.
Watching the team of miracle workers perform their duties was amazing. We are not talking here about tasks and skills. Anyone in the world would be able to learn all of this from a manual.
Indeed, I have discovered that only special individuals are able to go over and above the call of duties to perform these types of miracles. Every one of the team that helped me recover was professional, kind, carrying, friendly and genuinely concerned about a person whom they have never met in their life.
I am one of those thousands of patients who was deeply touched by the generous spirit of this miracle team. Overwhelmed by the humility of highly esteemed and knowledgeable doctors the true heroes at time of peace and war. Impressed by the coordinated skills of the administration. But, most of all extremely grateful for the nurses who care for their patients around the clock.
I can honestly report that I was provided with the royal treatment. Though, many people complain about the care received by this fine community, I now realize that most of them are unfounded. I now see the true generous nature of Canada. Even the food was healthy and tasty. Sorry, I would rather use the fund for medical necessity instead of offering gourmet meals. Of course, do not expect greasy foods.
In my opinion, our health care system is what makes Canada one of the best countries in the world. Indeed, we can transform our world into a paradise should we succeed in duplicating the remarkable performance of this fine community.
This is a huge enterprise. We all have a role to play in making it succeed. We also have to be reasonable in our expectations particularly, not to look for perfection. Furthermore, try to be fair and objective in our judgements. Dwelling on trivial matters is not going to help.
On behalf of my family and my awesome staff,
Most humble and grateful patient,

Robert Skaf
June 6, 2019,
Inspired by Nurse Melayne and her colleagues.