Success/Failure

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  - Winston Churchill

If you have driven by the clinic any in the last few years, you know we like to put life/funny quotations on our road sign.  If you were ever curious how we make those decisions about what to say, you can usually point the finger/blow the horn/hurt your neck trying to ready the dissertation at me.  It often boils down to something that happens in our lives or our cases/experiences at the clinic recently that spurs those quotes.  Some of the experiences are good, some are bad, and some are just plain frustrating.
If you know us outside of the clinic, we often wear our emotions on our sleeves (Don't ever ask my wife about this).  In our jobs, just like many others I am sure, our success/failure is born out on the table/cage/phone in front of us on a daily basis.  Some days, it feels like you can do no wrong and everything you touch will turn to gold.  Some days, no matter how hard you work; how hard you press; how well you think; how well you talk to the client; nothing goes like you envisioned it.  You sit down at the end of the day and are reminded that no matter how much we know, we are still performing the "art" of medicine not so much the "science" of it.
Unfortunately, because of how humans work and think, I can still remember the patients that just didn't do well or the surgery that didn't heal just like I knew it would.  It is easy to push aside those cases that did have a great response or the one that pulled through when the chances weren't great.
It is sometimes easy to view life/work as a bunch of pluses or minuses where all you are trying to do is end up in the black at the end of the day.  Thank goodness, we are blessed with a great staff and wonderful clients (figured ya'll would like this plug) that allow us to do our job to the best of our ability, and understand that sometimes we can't fix everything.  Those facts, along with the fact that I/we really do love what we do, keep us coming back.  What really makes me smile at the end of the day are the relationships that I/we have developed, and the number of people that trust us, I mean really trust us, with the care of their loved ones. It really is amazing.
So remember "success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  I am really writing this one for myself, thanks for listening.

P.S. Just in case anyone is wondering, my day has gone great today.  Just one of those things I have thought about before.

Dr. B