#BuckleUp #MedTwitter #MedStudenTtwitter #Pediatrics
When my sister was 3 years old, my mom brought her to her general pediatrician for a regular well check.
Until, in the midst of his usual routine, he palpated a softball-sized mass in my sister’s tiny 3yr old sized abdomen.
In that moment, the routine was no longer.
My family would later find out that it was Neuroblastoma.
I’ll skip ahead to say that luckily, her story’s ending is a happy one. She has since run 5 Boston Marathons in support of MGH’s Fighting Kids Cancer team.
Or maybe, it wasn’t luck, per se. Maybe it was because her pediatrician & all her other providers weren’t stuck in heuristic thought patterns. That they were present & tuned-in enough to recognize the gravity of the situation.
Details matter. And so does our attention to them.
Instead, they celebrated thoroughness and voiced appreciation for taking time with patients.
That even when this work becomes routine, we never just go through the motions.
I know it was for my sister.
Thanks for coming to my #tedtalk.
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