J U L Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 5
Many messages are lighthearted. A husband revealed his wife was a
Pink Floyd fan, so we played "Comfortably Numb" — fitting, right? —
when she was wheeled into the OR. Other messages have moved us
to tears. A 13-year-old boy named Daniel had recently endured the
sudden loss of his mother. His grandmother, who had become his
maternal figure, was laying on the table in front of us. In an email,
Daniel told us his grandmother makes the best meatballs, and asked
us to be at our best that day because he couldn't live without her or
her signature dish. We cried together, collected ourselves and began
the case with renewed purpose and focus. At the end of the success-
ful surgery, the entire team gathered around a speaker phone and
called Daniel to tell him, "Grandma's OK. More meatballs are coming."
You can imagine the impact his tears of joy had on everyone in the
room.
Something magical and powerful happens when you ask for emails
from patients' family members. It's helped me connect with patients
and their support circles in ways I never thought possible and has
reinvigorated my career and personal outlook in ways that are impos-
sible to describe.
Benjamin Schwartz, MD
Southside Hospital Northwell Health
Bay Shore, N.Y.
bschwartz@northwell.edu
