"I call therefore a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly,
skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices both private and public of peace and war"
John Milton (1608-1674)
The end of my formal education was coming into view as my last year of Pediatric Residency was to begin. I was now a "Senior Resident" which involved mentoring the young doctors in the class below me. It also came with acquisition of some administrative and leadership skills. There were many mentors at Akron Children's Hospital but those I remember most were Dr. Joe Kastelic, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist who taught me humility and patience in the face of the sickest children and their families, Dr. Bob Benson, an endocrinologist who was a stickler for thoroughness, and Dr. Gary Benfield, a pioneer in neonatology who taught me the importance of bringing in the family on sharing information and decisions. Both Bob and Gary have since passed, unfortunately, at fairly young ages but Gary spent his last days doing what he loved, writing books for children and their families.
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| One of Gary Benfield's many children's books |
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| Dr. Bob Benson, he taught me everything I know about endocrinology! |
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| Dr. Joe Kastelic and me in Pediatric Clinic. Seated is my Senior Resident, Sister Eileen, a nun who could drink us under the table at Bahama Buck's. She went on to transform health care for poor kids in West Virginia, receiving many accolades. |
My proudest achievement there was converting the pediatric resident clinic into a group practice model where the patients would have designated residents taking care of them, assuring continuity of care. There were designated back-up physicians when the resident wasn't available so it was always someone the child and their family knew. I even had business cards printed up for each resident as well as appointment cards. We saw clinic attendance improve several fold and, in the end, I think, better care.
There was more to our lives besides my residency. Suzanne and I weaved fun and relaxation into our busy lives, both separately and together. When we first moved to Akron, Suzanne had found an apartment for us in Cuyahoga Falls. There were not too many rentals that would accept our large German Shepherd. Living next door to us was a couple from Eastern Kentucky, what we refer to today as Appalachia. I have forgotten their names but one evening, the husband came over to ask if he could borrow one of my ties as his daughter was to be married the next morning! I gladly gave it to him as a gift. A few weeks after living there, we had houseguests from Belgium, Judith and Jean- Jacques DeBetancourt. Judith had taught with Suzanne and Jean-Jacques was a lawyer and a self-described gourmet. In return for giving him my tie, the neighbor brought over a gift of his own, turtle meat that he had "hunted" and he instructed Suzanne to make turtle soup with it. He warned her in advance to open all the windows as it would smell "real bad"! At dinner, Jean-Jacques declared it to be an epicurean delight! (I didn't have any). The neighbor's "hunting trip" was going out at night in his pickup truck to a certain road, waiting for the turtles to cross the road and...I guess I don't have to tell you the rest. This "roadkill" delicacy has been a source of laughter for both of us for many years.
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| This was the least offensive photo of turtle soup I could find! |
We eventually moved out to Stow, Ohio, down the road from Kent State, where we rented a nice two story duplex apartment with a yard for Rex. It was further out of Akron but a nice respite to which to come home from our work. My parents actually came out to visit us for the big US Bicentennial, complete with fireworks and a village parade where the town's favorite son, Larry Czonka of Miami Dolphins fame, was the parade Marshall. It was small town Americana at its best.
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| Larry "The Zonk" Czonka, Stow's hometown hero |
I had been befriended by the hospital's pediatric radiologist, Ken Swanson and his girlfriend, Carole. Carole was a gifted pianist on the faculty of Kent State and Ken, beside his day job, was THE physician for the Cleveland Orchestra as well as their summer venue, the Blossom Music Center. Ken had traveled all over the world with the orchestra and had become personal friends with many of the players. It was a treat when Ken invited us (my having been a french horn player for many years) to the famous french horn player Myron Bloom's home in Shaker Heights for dinner. He also took us to Severance Hall to see Vladimir Horowitz in recital.
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| The great pianist, Vladimir Horowitz, always performed on a Sunday at 3pm |
It's fair to say that Ken not only wined and dined us, but got me a gig at Blossom taking medical call for emergencies when I was available to do it. Fortunately, no one ever had a stroke or a heart attack on my watch. BUT, it did give me access backstage for all concerts where I could meet world famous artists performing with the orchestra. During my parents's visit that July, the pianist and comedian, Steve Allen, was appearing with them in concert and I remembered that, back in the day, Mr. Allen had been a patient of my optometrist dad, having provided him with his trademark glasses. It was exciting for my mom and dad to go backstage after the concert to greet Steve Allen and renew their acquaintance.
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| Blossom Music Center, the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra |
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| Steve Allen with his trademark eyeglasses |
There were also many fun evenings with fellow residents and nurses. Paul Wakefield would take us to a little whole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant (his mother was Greek) where he introduced us for the first time to a Gyros sandwich. We would take canoe trips on the Portage Lakes. The doctors and nurses would get together every Friday afternoon at the local watering hole, Bahama Buck's, for drinks and camaraderie. We called these events "Liver Rounds" for obvious reasons. While Akron had plenty to do like the Akron Symphony and a fine art museum, occasionally, we'd go up to Cleveland for fun like a Gordon Lightfoot concert or the NHL hockey came between the Cleveland Barons and the Los Angeles Kings where I got to chat with my old St. Lawrence roommate, Gary Croteau, who played for the Kings.
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| "Liver Rounds"! |
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| The nurses and me at Bahama Buck's |
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| Gordon Lightfoot |
Suzanne worked for Aetna Insurance Company doing approvals or denials for health care claims. She even played for their woman's basketball team where, despite a dreadful win/loss record, they had a load of fun. She and her friend, Nelda Fitzgibbon, worked together and would occasionally go out after work. Nelda's husband, Jim, was my closet friend in Akron and fellow resident, now head of Akron's Adolescent Medicine program. One day, after work, Jim convinced me to go to a new bar for a drink, which was actually a known spot where singles went to meet! Jim and I sat at the bar, watching all the attractive young women come and go, but unbeknownst to us, sitting behind us were two beautiful women, laughing and enjoying watching us... Suzanne and Nelda, who had the final laugh!
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| My partner-in-crime, Jim Fitzgibbon and man's best friend, the inimitable Rex |
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| Jim Fitzgibbon today...how the years change us! |
With our individual work schedules, we were both very busy people. Suzanne was my life support throughout medical school and training as she continues to be today. It was time to start thinking about starting a family. We knew adoption was the only option as we had been told, after numerous interventions and testing, that we would never have a biologic child. We were referred to the Jewish Family Service of Akron where a social worker would be assigned to us for the adoptive process. While hopeful, our first clues of disappointment were their requirements that Suzanne convert to Judaism as well as her not being able to have a job after the child was adopted. Nevertheless, we went on. Suzanne took courses with Rabbi Morton Applebaum of Temple Israel, a wonderful man of the old liberal reform tradition that I had grown up with, without all the emphasis on ritual that we see today. She completed the process of conversion and we thought we were all set...or so we thought. More on this later.
Midway through the end of my last year of residency, I received a letter from a pediatrician friend in Syracuse, Terry Pagano-Parke, who forwarded a notice to me about a new position opening up in Rochester, NY. She knew we wanted to return to the upstate NY area, and, although I had never been in Rochester, it sounded like a good fit. It was in a heavily minority area of the city with many social and economic challenges, the type of work I wanted to do. An inner city Catholic hospital, St. Mary's, wanted to open a multi-specialty primary care practice in an office setting to get patients out of the clinics and emergency rooms and to give them a health care setting that they would be proud to go to. It was enticing and I decided to find out more.
NEXT: LETTERS FROM ROCHESTER
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