Heal the world

"Heal the world - make it a better place..."

I'm quite sure I joined the majority of physical therapist graduates when I set out to do what MJ ordered. After all, what do therapists do, if not fix people's hurts?


I discharged multiple patients this week, and not because their hurts had been fixed; rather, it was because I'd tried and failed to fix them. Evenings scouring the internet, looking for one other treatment approach that might seal the deal; interventions and attempts to alleviate that instead resulted in increased pain; frustrations and spilled hearts that I tried feebly to catch in my cupped hands, watching them instead trickle through my grasping fingers.

I wanted SO badly to help them.

I question whether it was a "failure to respond to conservative treatment", or a failure of myself to provide effective treatment. I question my abilities and decisions. I question whether I would refer myself as a patient to Jessica S, DPT.


He makes all things beautiful in His time.


Today, out of the blue, on three separate occasions, patients turned to face me as they left at the end of their sessions and said Thank You.

"I really appreciate everything you're doing for me. Can I give you a hug?" (Hug? Umm, yes, always!)
"You've made every effort to explain this to me. I truly appreciate that."

"I don't know if you know it, but you're doing a great job. You're awesome at what you do."

Oh, what a world of difference a thank you can make!
(A word fitly spoken IS like apples of gold in settings of silver)

And so, once again, I turn back to life's helm, humming to myself:

Heal the world...