Best Doctor Ever

Who knew that a seemingly simple seating choice (like that alliteration? I do!) could so greatly impact the doctor-patient relationship.

When Dr. MacKinnon chose to sit on the edge of my mom’s bed, instead of standing over her, or sitting in a chair apart from her, she made the choice to really know my mom as a person, instead of just a patient. That set the tone for the three weeks that we worked with Dr. MacKinnon while my mom was in rehab.

It wasn’t just sitting on the edge of my mom’s bed that made Dr. MacKinnon a great doctor. But it, along with all the other small things Dr. MacKinnon did, made her one of the most caring doctors I’ve ever met.

She would hold my mom’s hand as she talked to her (this was before my mom could talk back). She would speak my mom as if she was a 56-year-old woman, and not a child (apparently when you can’t speak, people treat you like a child). She would hug my mom before she left the room, and call her by her first name, and share personal details of her own life with us. And one time, out in the hallway, after my dad and I had a conversation with her about my mom’s cancer, she talked with us about each moment being sacred, and gave us hugs as she left.

Dr. MacKinnon valued life, and saw my mom’s life as something beautiful and holy, even while knowing that my mom was dying. She was able to draw near, even though she’d only be our doctor for a few weeks, and even though it might bring her closer to her own mortality as she played a part in my mom’s journey towards death.

I want to be like Dr. MacKinnon – able to live and love in the face of death, granting dignity and grace to people who are helpless, and unafraid to be vulnerable.