60 Days of {Gratitude} : Day 2

Not having a good day. Tired and not feeling well at all. So, I’m trying to follow my own rule and look at the positive (which I’m learning may be harder than originally thought over the next couple of months)...today I am extremely grateful for talented, dedicated, and compassionate doctors. As some of you may or may not know, I suffer from multiple chronic autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases are often referred to as "silent illnesses" because to the rest of the world, it looks like there is nothing wrong with me. Now before I get all dramatic, I realize that there are so many people out there suffering from diseases far worse than anything I’ve endured. That said, I've faced some obstacles and my fair share of medical frustrations over the past few years. Luckily, I live in one of this country’s largest cities, and I've been fortunate enough to be treated by some of the top specialists in their fields. What has amazed me far more than their medical knowledge and the books or papers they've written, is their true concern for my health (physical, mental and spiritual) and my overall quality of life. In a world full of doctors that are more concerned with seeing as many patients as possible and fighting with insurance companies, I’m constantly impressed with the amount of time my doctors spend with me. Some of them tend to marvel at me because I'm "young" for all this and are extra inquisitive, which is okay. But mostly it's true concern and total understanding. Just a couple weeks ago, after 20 minutes of medical questions and all the necessities, one of my doctors stopped and looked at me and asked me how heart was doing. They can't teach that kind of sincere compassion in medical school. So for her, and all my other amazingly talented doctors, I am so very grateful.