Basic Human Touch

Remember that movie where the doctor became the patient and realized he hadn't been as compassionate as he'd always thought himself to be??? I think he started to realize the value of treating people as a human being instead of just a patient history to be gathered and treated. Lets just say that there are lots of people at the Huntsman who have either been very well trained, or inately understand the value of treating the whole patient not just the disease. It's funny that you would feel the need to be comforted and reassured by the people who are taking care of the technical details of treating your disease, but I remember several times when human touch was just the thing I needed to be reassured--a doctor who reached out to hug me and comfort me after delivering bad news, or celebrate being finished...or just a touch of the hand to connect.

Debbie in Radiation instinctively had the gift of touch--I can still remember laying on the radiation table waiting to be shifted into the right position when a new tech walked into the room, gently touched my arm and introduced herself. I immediately shifted from patient mode to real human being mode--from a name on a chart to a real person needed real treatment--from a body part in need of radiation, to a whole person trying to heal. There was an immediate release of my worries and a sense of calm that someone really cared about me--When I commented to her about how comforting it was she mentioned that in all her experience she'd only had one patient ask her not to touch--too bad they were that stiff--they missed a chance to feel like a human being instead of a patient being. I was sad when Debbie had to leave to be a patient herself (luckily not for any life threatening issues)--I missed her daily touch on my arm or leg to reassure me that she was looking out for my best interests. One other nurse had that gift of touch--I had lots of great nurses take care of me when I had my mastectomies done--but the one I instinctively loved the most was the one who comforted me with a light stroke down my arm when I was waking up from anesthesia, or needing more pain meds. Too bad our society has become paranoid to touch for fear of false allegations--human touch might be the medicine we need the very most!