Week 5

How many birds’ lives have been saved by these brush strokes? We may never know, but we’ll still ponder it every time we walk this hallway…..

A HEALING ENVIRONMENT

A mural in one of the many long hallways of Hopkins that helps turn what could be a sterile, tense environment into a soothing and healing experience

We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to live so close to one of the greatest hospitals and medical institutions in the world.  People travel from all over the globe to Johns Hopkins Hospital to receive treatment from physicians that are the best in their fields.  We’re there often enough that we’ve seen a lot of people from different countries and cultures, many with translators in tow, and this always reminds us how lucky we are to live only 20 minutes away.  Hopkins’ reputation is renowned enough that I don’t need to spend time rattling off its impressive stats. Everyone knows it’s one of the best medical institutions with cutting edge medicine and world class doctors.  That being said I’d be remiss though if I didn’t take a moment to express how absolutely amazing my father’s doctors and therapists have all been.  The care he has received from them has gone way above and beyond every expectation.  Their treatment plans are thoughtful and they approach his care from a perspective of his overall well-being. They truly care and are invested in his recovery to the point that they make themselves available to me for questions or advice when needed.  They are kind, approachable, and personable. We simply love them.

Laughter is medicine. Thank you to the staff of the outpatient rehab center for not forgetting that.

We’re at Hopkins a lot – multiple times a week for speech, PT and OT, monthly at the Bayview campus for psych, social work and spinal specialists and several times a year to check in with his oncologist.  We’ve become so comfortable and familiar with Hopkins that getting there and navigating the campus are no longer big deals at all.  What used to seem like a mammoth maze-like institution, now feels as familiar as your local grocery store and just like the cashiers or the person behind the deli counter may know you, the staff there recognizes us.   This is probably because my dad and I tend to walk around with a big grins greeting everyone. Hopkins becoming a mainstay in our lives means it’s something my father talks about and thinks about a lot.  Daily, he shares interesting musings, ideas, thoughts or ponderings that have gone through his head. Eventually I will create a page on the blog dedicated to these, but for now, here are a few that center around Hopkins:

• I’d like to write a book about Johns Hopkins himself, traveling through time to visit his hospital as it exists now. Can you imagine his reaction?
• What do you think Baltimore would be like if there was no Johns Hopkins Hospital?
• I have an idea for a murder mystery.  Patients at Hopkins are being admitted but they are never checking out – they are being murdered by one of their own doctors.  (sidenote – this idea came to him after a visit with the only one of his doctors that he is not particularly fond of and I’m pretty sure he was the villain my father imagined in his story)
• Don’t you think they should put up some more pictures of Johns Hopkins where he doesn’t look like such a stick in the mud?

Taking in all the facts

One of the things though, that we find so special about the hospital has nothing at all to do with its reputation, it isn’t listed among the reasons Hopkins is so highly rated and it’s not the reason people come from far off lands to be treated. It’s the thoughtful approach that was taken in designing the building, the art on the walls, the gardens and all of the other beautiful details that were designed for the benefit of the patients and staff.  I believe I may have mentioned in another entry that my father is a lover of arts and culture.  I also know I mentioned that he has a slight loss in his visual field that will cause him to sometimes overlook things right in front of him. What he never misses though (yes, in addition to food) is the opportunity to stop and admire art of any form and art can be loosely interpreted. By his definition, it’s everywhere. He not only notices it, but stops to take it in, nothing is taken for granted or passed over without him stopping to admire it, and share some thoughts.  Even when I’d find this to be a source of frustration as I was trying to hustle him in and out of the building so I could get back to work as quickly as possible, it was always endearing.  I love this about him. It’s almost childlike and I would say it is except for the insights he has on what he’s looking at are always so profound. 

His absolute favorite is a compilation of 26 Monet-inspired photos of the bridge in Giverny and its surrounding garden.  The artist, Spencer Finch, is responsible for the design of many features of the hospital, including the colorful exterior and the bird-friendly brush-stroked glass that serve a dual purpose – to prevent birds from crashing into the glass and to create a ripple like effect as the sunlight filters through inside.  All of these features contribute to what truly is a healing environment which doesn’t go by without notice or appreciation by us.