THE LAST TIME THAT I NEEDED SURGERY, in 2011, the surgeon was in my hospital room the evening before the surgery and decided, for whatever reason, that he needed to tell me about what a big deal surgeons were in the medical world. All doctors would like to be surgeons, he boasted, standing at the foot of my bed. It occurred to me that one might describe a similar phenomenon in the legal world: all lawyers would like to be trial attorneys. Perhaps one might imagine too that all contractors would like to be architects; all nurses would like to be doctors; all cowboys would like to be trail bosses; and all princes would like to be kings. Yet, if all the mechanics of the world became engineers, who would fix the dysfunctional mechanical devices? “Another flaw in the human character,” wrote Kurt Vonnegut in ‘Hocus Pocus,’ “is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.” We see this play out following some ostomy surgeries, when the patient has a practical question about caring for the ostomy. The surgeon has no clue; that is beyond his high-blown job description. You have to ask an ostomy nurse, or perhaps someone else with an ostomy. Over the years, I have grown decidedly dubious about professionals who feel the need to paper their walls with certificates, diplomas, accolades, and awards. The more they feel the need to display, the more I’m likely to doubt their proficiency. The braggart brags because he’s unsure of himself. I almost laughed in a dentist’s face one day when I noticed his MENSA certificate displayed in his reception room. It reminds me of something Margaret Thatcher once said: “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.”
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First off, this is a pretty cool site with 33,358 members. Get inside and you will see.
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Hollister
Are you a caregiver for a child with an ostomy? In the summer months, this can become more challenging, thanks to heat, humidity, water activities, and travel plans.
Learn more about caring for children with an ostomy on vacation.
Learn more about caring for children with an ostomy on vacation.