Some Doctors are Better Than Others!

Some doctors are better than others - ask anyone with an ageing parent or a complex child.  Do you know any doctor who still makes house calls?

I DO and he's our doctor!  Dr. Robert Eaton is my personal hero.  He is a family doctor who is famous throughout our community for 'taking the dregs', as I flippantly call families like my own.  I call us 'the dregs' because we are one of the families on his caseload that takes triple the allotted appointment time - it takes us that long to pick through the options on new anti-seizure medications for Nicholas and to cross reference side effects and interactions with his other meds.  I have a clear picture of our Dr. Eaton in my head.  It is a memory I have of him one day years ago when I visited his office - I was waiting in one treatment room when I observed our good doctor on the telephone at his desk across the hall.  He was advocating for a senior who had no family and lived in a nursing home.  He complained about this woman's bed sores and the lack of attention to her daily needs.  He sounded exactly like a concerned and irate son.

When we arrived back in Canada, Dr. Eaton met us the next day at Nick's new home. He gave me a big hug and we began to go through the long and arduous business of transitioning Nick's primary care to our new Canadian team, with Dr. Eaton as its new CEO.

Many of my readers know that I use a software programme called Tyze to coordinate Nick's care.  Everyone who has a direct role in caring for and about Nick is on the Tyze network - it's completely private and secure.  Dr. Eaton is an important member of Nick's Tyze site and responds immediately to concerns posted there about mysterious rashes, fevers or stomach upsets.

Dr. Eaton is an amazing person, an exceptional physician and a pillar of our community.  He is my hero.