I’VE CRIED, REJOICED AND LAUGHED
with my patients for 27 years but
never more so than in recent weeks as I move into my last week in general practice
and am thinking what to write for my last post-it from practice. How could I
possibly sum up this period in my life? How could I possibly say a big enough
thank you to all those wonderful patients who have entrusted me with their
stories and taught me everything I know? How could I explain all that has
changed, and continues to change?
How could I have known when Damian, aged 16 years, walked into my room in
my first week as a GP and asked for help with his heroin problem what an
amazing journey this would take me on? I knew nothing about addiction, had
never had any training and didn’t know what methadone was or that there were
12 steps that could be followed. Together we tried and did quite well and then
Damian asked if his two friends could get help from me too. Then more people
came and we continued to learn together. They shared their – often tragic – stories
with me. People wanted help and wanted change, and together we achieved it.
After a while, I thought perhaps I ought to read a book on the subject or go on a
training course, but I could find nothing that described the people I was seeing. The
books told me ‘these people’ were not to be trusted and must be kept in line and all
the courses seemed to imply was that all were mad; plus they were aimed only at
psychiatrists. So I gave up on that idea and stayed with learning from the patients.
As numbers grew, I learnt more and got some help in the clinic. Brian came as a
counsellor ‘for three months’ and stayed for 24 years – until six months ago,
always saying he would leave first, he was true to his word. Together we decided
that as there was no help for us or others doing similar work, we would bring
people together at a conference, start a newsletter, write up guidance on what
was helpful to us, build a network – and SMMGP was born.
But none of that would have worked without the trust that so many have
placed in me. I was lucky enough to hear the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
at the Hay Festival a few weeks ago, and to quote her, ‘You can know the facts but
not the truths. The truths come from personal stories… We live in a world where
it has become increasingly important… to embrace empathy, to constantly be
reminded that we share, with everybody in every part of the world, a common
and equal humanity. But I must hasten to clarify that I am not suggesting that
we are all the same. We most certainly are not. We live in a world of facts and
figures, and although essential, they must co-exist with personal stories…’
I was again reminded of our common, but not always recognised, humanity
yesterday when Brendan came to say goodbye. He explained that he had thought
long and hard about what to give me and decided against presents. Instead he
had painted a striking picture of a bird with a tear in its eye on a card for me – ‘so
that with a flap of its wings, it can be anywhere it wants to be’, with a St
Christopher attached to keep me safe. Written in it were many beautiful words
including, ‘Here I have also been treated as me, as an equal. I have been loved,
supported and encouraged to grow.’
I feel lucky every day to have experienced all of this and would like to tell you
so many more personal stories of amazing people, but it’s time for the next new
beginning. I want to say so many personal thanks, but I feel you know who you are
– so a big beautiful thank you to you all. I started a list of names but it became so
long I will keep that in my heart for another day and finish instead with another
quote from Chimamanda: ‘This was love: a string of coincidences that gathered
significance and became miracles.’
PS the good news is that Steve Brinksman, my mate and the new clinical
director of SMMGP, will continue sending post-its from practice starting next
month, wonderfully supported, as I have been, by the wonderful Elsa Browne,
project manager at SMMGP.
Dr Chris Ford is a GP at Lonsdale Medical Centre, a clinical director for IDHDP and
a member of the board of SMMGP, www.smmgp.org.uk
On behalf of DDN and our readers, I would like to thank Chris most sincerely for
her much-valued post-its and wish her well for the future. Editor
22 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| July 2012
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Post-its from Practice
Farewell and thank you
For more than six years,
Dr Chris Ford
has shared her experiences in the surgery with
DDN
readers, bringing new insights on drug and alcohol treatment direct from her patients.
This month she bids us goodbye, as she prepares to retire from general practice
Post-its from practice |
Dr Chris Ford
‘I thought perhaps I ought to read
a book on the subject or go on a
training course, but I could find
nothing that described the people
I was seeing. The books told me
“these people” were not to be
trusted and must be kept in line...’