"Soul" -- a thanksgiving artwork and note from Benjamin and his family from Baton Rouge, LA

Back in May, I shared a little bit about Benjamin, an 18 yo young man with severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  His blogpost is here. 

His parents, Mark and Rachel are wonderful people, and made the 14 hour drive to visit us at Hey Clinic during Benjamin's spring break from college to get a second opinion for Benjamin's scoliosis surgery.  Mark, a surgeon,  was the best man for an excellent spine surgeon here in Raleigh who suggested to make the trip to come and see me.   A couple months later, they came back to Hey Clinic and Duke Raleigh Hospital next door and Benjamin got straightened up nicely, and flew back home.  He's done very well since then, and we've stayed in touch over the phone and internet, checking X-Rays locally which get mailed to me on disc so I can review them.

Yesterday I was just blown away when I received this awesome gift from their family, with the following hand-written note from Rachel, Benjamin's mom.  I want to share it here, linked to this picture of the artwork so I can remember this special encouraging day and share it with others from our Hey Clinic and Duke Raleigh Hospital team that make great journeys like this for our guests happen every day.

Dear Dr. Hey,
You have truly been a blessing to Benjamin and our family.  From your initial thorough consultation via phone with Mark, even before meeting us, until our discharge from Duke Raleigh Hospital, we have been overwhelmingly impressed by each and every individual and encounter.  We could not have prayed for a better outcome for Benjamin.  Our appreciation for your expertise and your compassionate care is difficult to adequately express.  We therefore hope this work of art by our friend Mordechai Rosenstein might say it best and express the magnitude of our collective gratitude.
Sincerely, Rachel and Mark H.

On the back of this 3D framed artwork is a description of the piece called "SOUL"
Around the circumference of the piece it says:
"Whoever Preserves a Single Soul, Scrupture ascribes Merit to Them as Tho They Saved a Complete World"

Mortechi explains the piece further:
"The basis for the design is a passage from the Talmud, Chapter Sanhedran.  I chose green as the main color which in my mind represents life and renewal.  I had many images to choose from, but the ones I chose were a broad spectrum
   1.  The lamp of universal knowledge
   2. The brass serpent of Moses which stopped the plague and represents the healing arts
   3. Birds that fly and fish that swarm oceans
   4. Grapes mean plenty
   5.  Flowers and trees that cover the earth

THE WORLD IS A GOOD PLACE!!"

Mortechai Rosenstein's artwork can be found at Emes Editions LTD, http://www.emeseditions.com in Elkins Park, PA.  Wow Mortechi -- I absolutely love this piece and will focus on it as a way of refreshing my own soul to continue to serve with compassion and strength.  Thanks for creating it.

I left Mark and Rachel a thank you voice mail late yesterday, but unfortunately was sound asleep when they called me back at 10pm my time as I rested up for big kyphoscoliosis surgery for today.  Thanks so much Rachel for calling me back.  Blessings to you and Mark and Benjamin.

I then received this nice email from Benjamin this evening:

Dear Dr. Hey,
I'm so glad that you liked the thank you gift and wanted to let you know that I am doing great.  In fact, today I rode my bike to my first day of college classes!!! My recovery has been amazing and I can't thank you enough.  These past few months have been incredible and I am so thankful.

Thanks again,
Benjamin 

Personal notes and gifts like this, after 5 or 6 or more hours in surgery absolutely lifts my soul and empowers me to go into that next consult room or answer that next consult request from a family from far away with renewed strength.

Thanks again Rachel, Mark and Benjamin and Mordechai for truly blessing me and our Hey Clinic and Duke Raleigh Hospital staff.  I will share this with our team at our weekly Quality and Clinical Care Joint Meeting we have with our staffs each Thursday morning.

Dr. Lloyd Hey
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
http://www.heyclinic.com