Having not met God (face to face), we all have an image of how caring, compassionate, and loving he is to us. From the minute Emma was brought into the Emergency Room on March 27th, shes had her protector right by her side. A good doctor is always compassionate with his patients. But this doesn't even begin to explain the amount of love in Dr Mander's finger, let alone the love in his heart. I have watched him for almost a month. Doctors do not have days off- this we all know. But Dr Mander is a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Specialist, he is every kind of pediatric doctor all wrapped up into one man and he has to be able to have all his knowledge at the tip of his fingers at any given second. We have seen him LITERALLY save children that you would have never thought when they arrived here they were ever going home. Of course to our surprise, many have come and gone. Emma bonded with him in the first few days. Every time he would come in and touch her she would pull grab his finger and make a sound that sounded just like she was saying "Uh Uh" . Whether you find it believable or not- Emma knows when that man walks on this unit because as he walks past the monitor at the nurses station she will always dip her sat's just enough for it to "beep' as he walks by.. She knows how to get his attention for sure. We (family & nurses) like to joke about Emma having a "Mander" day... these are the days when twenty minutes before her feeding is due she will scream until she gets it--she doesn't want to wait twenty minutes she wants it now! :) I'm sure you can figure out that Dr. Mander likes things done promptly (which as a parent is something I love!). :)
Dr. Mander is a pediatric genius (I can see him know reading this telling himself, "Genius, ya right.") There are times when I don't think he realizes how brilliant he is. Within the first hours of seeing what Emma was doing he was throwing out all these words that I had never heard before and as the test results poured in, sure enough, he was right on every thing that was going on. I would have to say the best thing about the way Dr. Mander handles these "intense" situations is almost everything is a race against time for him. He tries to find the "back door method" to everything. He will try and figure out the answer other ways.. Instead of waiting for blood results because sometimes, let's be honest-- in most of these situations in the PICU, seconds can seem like days when things are crucial. I could go on for hours praising this man, there is NOT a doctor on this planet like him! He is the best. Talking amongst other parents in the PICU over the last several weeks.. (You've all seen the TV show "House". right?!?)
Well, Dr. Mander is the "House" of Pediatrics!
Although, I know he lives for taking care of these kiddos, I don't know how I will ever repay him. He has taken so much pride in Emma and taking it day by day as frustrating as it has been. We have all excepted that Emma's genetic condition is so rare we do not know what the future holds! But we know who we will come to every time she needs taken care of. I will DEMAND to be taken to MANDER.
The only thing I can honestly say I dislike about Mander... :(
-He's not a doctor Emma can come to for monthly check-ups. I wish that for the rest of her life he was in COMPLETE control of her medical care! ! This man is that AMAZING!
But as we all know, with Emma's Story he will be the hero behind her journey every time we tell it!
Unfortunately for every doctor Emma has I don't think I will ever care for them as much as I do Mander and Basnet! (They are an amazing team!)
Special thanks to the man behind the journey! I know you will never admit how AMAZING you are - but know that Emma is alive today because of the genius that you are! Thank you again for everything you have done and you will indeed be recognized every time I tell Emma's story!
*As parents, if you ever need your kiddos taken care of: St Johns PICU without a doubt.. There is a reason I say "Only God could PICU" these doctors and nurses are absolutely FANTASTIC! Not only are they great at what they do but I have became so attached to so many of them.
They are our PICU family!
No comments:
Post a Comment