The Clinic Waiting Room 3/12/07
Modern medicine has many Mecca’s places you go when things get really tough. In the Midwest there is Mayo’s in Rochester, MN., the U of I Cancer center in Indianapolis and UW Hospital Madison, and the Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. Even a little berg in Northern Wisconsin, Aprisus Hospital, has a great heart center. They all share one thing in common, a dedicated staff of professionals. Unfortunately, my family has spent much too much times in a few of these places.

Many of these places have diversions to get your mind off of things the serious nature of your visit. Some diversions are obvious and others you really need to look long and hard for. In visiting Rochester MN you can sit on a bar stool or drive a little north visiting Wabasha and the Mississippi River Valley, Madison Hospital is located right on Lake Mendota with a shoreline walk way. Stanford has it’s ho hum campus but there are mountain views east and west. Even Wausau’s hospital has Rib Mountain as a backdrop. As for Indy you’ll need to take a five hour bus ride to get in the right frame of mind.

All of these are offered as an alternative to parking your rear end on a hard chair in a patient wait room. Last week we did a little of both sitting and looking for a diversion. We did both and thankfuly the outcome was positive. Someone could come up with a best seller – a guide for parent/patient activities and accomodation for medical institutions around the country… a little light in a sad subject.

Today’s thought, "God doesn’t come when you want him
but he’s right on time." Tennessee Williams