“Your Body is Amazing. It’s Worth Taking Care of.”

Tragedy – mind you, I am using that word lightly here – struck yesterday when my laptop went into hibernation and didn’t wake up. Yes, I tried turning it off and on.  I plugged it in. Then I Google’d a few YouTube videos on my phone on how to fix it.   To no avail – nothing put black screen.

Panic mode. 

This morning, I searched online for expert help.  And across the street from the hospital, it turns out, was a shop that repaired computers.  Excellent.  I walked over this morning before clinic.  Handing over my laptop, that vaguely familiar feeling that, oddly, often accompanies healthcare encounters:

There is something wrong.  I’m not sure what it is.  I’m worried. I’m hoping it’s not bad.  If Google couldn’t answer it, then it must be bad.  I wonder if, somehow, this is my fault.  Will this guy think I’m stupid that I can’t figure it out myself?

So, here’s where it all went right.  When I walked in, the shop was busy but there was barely a wait.  Kieran couldn’t be more helpful: reassuring, did a quick exam of my laptop, explained to me the best case and worst case scenarios, and outlined what to expect in each case.   He offered to ring and update me through the day, but I since I had clinics, we made a plan to touch base after my late afternoon clinic.

I walked away feeling much better. A few hours later, I had a text literally telling me:  “it’s good news”

After clinic, I walked back over and collected my laptop – up and running.  Kieran took the time to go through what went wrong and how to prevent that happening again.  He also ran a preventative security check and pointed out how I could make the laptop more secure. He also pointed out where, if needed, it could be upgraded to increase longevity over the next few years.

“This is a good laptop.  It’s worth taking care of it.”

As I walked away, I thought, why can’t healthcare be like that? I had easy access to a reassuring and non-judgemental expert who fixed the problem, clear communication,  took time to educate me on how to avoid it next time, and took the opportunity to point out what I could do to improve longevity.  He pointed out what parts might need to be replaced.  And, while ultimately I could have replaced my laptop, we only get one body. And our bodies deserve, at the very least, the same great care that one can, apparently, more easily find for a laptop.

Because his parting message is a great one, that I’m going to borrow it, paraphrase it.  Because, it’s a message that patients should hear:

“Your body is amazing.  It’s worth taking care of it.”

*

If you find yourself in the vicinity of Merrion Road and need expert computer repair, Kieran at FixIt Ireland is fantastic.

**If you are real-life patient of mine and know that I run a paperless clinic, you can rest assured that your data remains secure as it is stored in a GDPR-compliant dedicated professional healthcare records cloud storage – it’s not my laptop.