Dear the doctors who listened,

To start off, I want to thank you. Over the course of 18 years, I have had a multitude of doctors. Many of them told me that I was seeking drugs and that I pretended to feel pain, some told me it wasn’t actually there, and the worst was being told that the pain was all in my head. Just because I was a teenager, I was subject to this stereotype that I only wanted drugs and that my pain was only a figment of my imagination. For that, I had to wait years in immense pain until I finally found two doctors who would listen and take the time to understand me.

Both of you have seen me through the best and worst points of my life. You have watched me smile and cry through procedures, countless blood draws, surgeries, pain, and diagnoses. When I first sat in your offices, I had wished before my appointment that maybe this would be it: the appointment that would fix me. As I walked into your personal office and began to describe my symptoms and pain, each of you looked at me in awe.

At this point in my life, I was just getting into my senior year, and I was missing out on so much because everything I did was too tiring or the pain was too intense. Before this, I had to stop doing things I loved, like dance, because I couldn’t bear the pain of certain movements. Neither of you could believe I was saying all of this with a smile on my face. To be completely honest, neither did I.

Over the course of about 6 months, I had two diagnoses to go on, and my days in constant pain were almost over.

So, to the two wonderful doctors who listened: Thank you for the constant support of me and my family through the past few years of helping me heal. Thank you for finally ending the constant cycle of emotional and physical pains that came along with my illnesses. Thank you for emailing me back as soon as you saw a concern, question, or random comment about a procedure, surgery, or my medication. Thank you for being more than just a doctor, but being another human being who would talk to me and connect with me on a personal basis. Thank you for showing me that there is in fact a light at the end of the tunnel.

You didn’t only ask about my current status, but you asked about what I wanted to do with my future and what great things I wanted to accomplish. They always say you know you have a good doctor when he treats you as a person and not just your disease. Both of you have helped me heal in the physical and emotional aspects of my life. You asked me my opinion on medications, procedures, surgeries; and neither of you did anything I wasn't comfortable with. You took my opinion into consideration and didn’t treat me like the child all other doctors saw me as. You didn’t treat me like just another teenager who wants drugs for pain. You didn’t treat me like an alienated human who was struggling through life with unbearable pain. You made me feel like a real human instead of “just another patient.”

Thank you for stopping the tears at 2 AM when I would wake up in pain; the tears of my mother at 2 AM when she was worried and the stress of my father. Knowing all of the things you both went through to help me fills me with immense gratitude, and I don’t know how else to express it other than this.

tTo the two gentlemen who took me under their wing and practically saved my life: Thank you for everything; you will never know just how much you mean to me.

Sincerely,

A forever grateful patient and friend