AN ESSAY BY MIKE BASSETT

Saturday morning is here again. This is going to be a long weekend, Memorial Day. I am doing something a little different today than I normally do. My Grandson Mike, Dad of Mikayla Bassett has written a Essay. It will soon be published in a magazine. He has allowed me to run it here. He has written a very moving piece, not only for Health Care Professionals but everyone. An insight to how we live our life's, just day by day. Then in an instant everything changes. Thanks Mike.


AN ESSAY

"by"

MIKE BASSETT


This is a brief essay for health care professionals for what its like for the patient and family of the patient. You’re a parent and it’s early morning with the nagging sound of an alarm clock trying to wake you out of bed. You grumble and begin your daily rituals that somehow seem to be set on autopilot. You make breakfast, get the kids ready, yourself ready, and head out the door for your journey. On the way to school the kids are fighting over who is looking at who, while the other is trying to finish last nights homework they forgot to do the day before. The glorious clam of voices in the background almost mute with the thoughts about what lies ahead today. You drop the kids at school telling them you love them and head to work. At work most of us are like machines. We have sets of tasks that we try to accomplish to the best of our abilities and then we call it a day. Most of our days are much the same as the one before it. Little ever seems to change.. After work its back to our first life picking up kids, running errands, going to practices, all before we get home. Still set on autopilot dinner is made, baths are given, and chores are done. If we are lucky we will have a minute to ourselves, but most are not so fortunate. The kids are yelling again about mundane and trivial things. You get frustrated and are looking forward to the kids sleeping so that you have that peaceful time before you sleep that allows you to think about your day. When you lie there thinking what do you think of? Did your children drive you crazy? Did they fight all day and somehow become destructive to the house adding more pressure to you because you’re the one that has to clean? For most of us that have children this is how it is.

We loose focus on the small things in life and rarely are we faced with something so big that our lives would be altered forever. What if it was altered? Altered in a big enough way that we no longer were on autopilot. What would you do? I was a parent that was on autopilot, but in an instant my life was altered in a huge way. My daughter whom was five at the time was diagnosed with AML Leukemia. Our world would never be the same again. It consisted of hospitals, doctors, nurses, caregivers, therapists, and specialists. We as parents longed for the car rides to school. We missed the fighting over who is looking at who. We wanted to have to clean house because it was destroyed by the children, but that was not our world anymore. No longer on autopilot each day presented it’s own challenge. Being stuck in this situation makes you appreciate things you normally take for granted. The tugging of your shirt tail by a toddler showing you their mess they just made with the crayons on the wall. The roar of cries when somebody takes something away from the other. We instead had to face challenges far greater than any parent that hasn’t gone through it can imagine. When we are in this situation our heads are spinning and our hearts are heavy.

We look to others such as our health care professionals for guidance. We build bonds and relationships that help us to cope with our situation. Our daughter was much the same as us. Some she loved others she didn’t want to see. As parents you try to rid the bad ones and keep the good. After seven months we completed therapies and started to rebuild our lives at home. While in the hospital we noticed something. Did most of the health care professionals see so many sick patients that they too were on autopilot just completing the tasks that lay before them? Did their daily lives begin with the hum of the alarm much as mine? We tend to see life though our own eyes and not realize what kind of impact we have on others. As a healthcare provider you may not realize how important of a role you play in the patients life. Its not just about performing your tasks, but about relationships you build with the patient and the patients families. Try not to be stuck on autopilot. Rather think of your patient as if she or he was your own child that was sick. Your job will be more rewarding and you will feel good about yourself.