The Bionic Woman
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” General George S. Patton, American General in World War I and II
When aerobics instructor Terri Diamond had a head on automobile accident, she braced her left leg on her car’s firewall to keep from going through the car’s windshield. She saved her life but was told she needed a hip replacement. The only available replacement, made of metal and plastic, would last only 12 years. She was told the only other alternative would be to give up aerobics, or modify her teaching and put off a total hip replacement as long as possible.
The seven surgeons who gave her this advice missed one thing about Ms. Diamond: she was determined and she was ingenuous. She asked the question that changed her life for the better. She asked: “If a Dallas Cowboy needed a hip replacement, where would he go?”
She was referred to the W.C. Cabrell Memorial Clinic in Dallas. There, Paul C. Peters, an orthopedic surgeon, was involved in a decades plus European and American clinical testing of a metal to metal implant. It had been approved and fast tracked by the Federal Drug Administration just the year before. The Ultamet Pinnacle Cup and Metal-on Metal Articulation produced by DePuy allows a return to sports and aerobics. Ms. Diamond had the surgery and returned to her athletic life.
Another family, the Andersons’, is familiar with using ingenuity and home research to find the best medical care in the country. The youngest daughter was born with multiple medical needs. Her parents were determined to find her the best medical care available. Like many others, they discovered “The Best Doctors in America,” a series of books dating from the early 70s to today. Containing the names and locations of physicians from each specialty, the recommendations rely on physicians’ personal choices for their own families. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson started with the doctors’ own choices, and then learned to check each doctor’s education, experience, and publications. Ingenuity partnered with curiosity, research and courage to ask the right questions paid off for their daughter who is now entirely well.
Meditation for the Day
“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it” Moliere, French Playwright
Action for the Day
Today, and whenever I need to overcome an obstacle, I’ll use ingenuity and think out of the box.
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