Thread by @kazweida

On National Doctors Day, I want to tell you a story.
And my story is like that of many Americans.

A doctor saved my life.
It was only later that I would learn the tragedy of his life and our time together.

(THREAD)
#NationalDoctorsDay

I'd recently become pregnant and then appeared to have a miscarriage on my 35th birthday. I was devastated.

A short month later I was crossing a parking lot holding my five-year-old son's hand just a few days before Christmas. Every step was excruciating. (2)

I felt like a bowling ball was rolling around in my stomach & each step was a punch to the gut. The bleeding & cramps from the miscarriage had waned, but this felt different.

I wanted an appointment with my nurse practitioner, but she wasn't available. I got Jed instead. (3)

Jed was the senior OB/GYN and had actually founded the clinic. I assumed it was a freak of chance he was available that day. He swiped my belly with the ultrasound and knew immediately what was wrong.

Back when I'd thought I'd had a miscarriage, I'd had an ectopic pregnancy. (4)

An ectopic pregnancy is when the fertilized egg attaches outside of the womb. In my case, it had grown inside of my right fallopian tube and then burst. Twice. I currently had a womb full of blood and if I didn't have surgery soon, I would die from internal bleeding. (5)

It was Christmas Eve and I wanted my five-year-old son to celebrate & have the surgery the following day. Jed eyed the tests carefully and gave me his cell phone.

On Christmas, he came into the closed clinic to check my ultrasound, despite a huge snowstorm. (6)

The day after Christmas, Jed wheeled me into the ER and I had surgery. He had to sever a section of my fallopian tube to get the fetus out. Technically, I am one of many women who had an abortion to save her life.

It was not a viable pregnancy and it would have killed me. (7)

There were no complications. And a short three months later I was pregnant with our daughter. Jed saved my life.

But I found out later it came at a time of great personal loss for him. A few days before I went to see Jed, his son had been murdered. (8)

A soldier at Fort Bragg, shot on the side of the road. It remains an unsolved crime.

Jed had already suffered so much in his life. His mother had been killed and his brother suffered brain damage as victims of the HI-FI murders.

Jed never breathed a word to me.
(9)

To Jed & thousands of doctors around the world, thank you.

What you do makes a difference, even when it comes at great personal cost to you. I'm alive today and I have a daughter because of Jed.

Thank a doctor who saved your life today. #NationalDoctorsDay