February 2006
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Gratitudes
The following is an excerpt of a letter sent to Children's Hospital Boston's MR-OR team.
Edward Smith, MD January 18, 2006
Hi–
I am writing to make sure that I recognize and thank the people involved today in a great case. A child came in late last night with a symptomatic posterior fossa brain tumor, which was infiltrative into the cerebellum. It was a case that was perfect for the intraoperative MRI. However, it had to be an add-on case on a Friday afternoon—something that's difficult in a regular OR, let alone in the new magnet room.
Despite this, the MR-OR team all agreed to help out in the best interest of the child, and I have to say every part of the case went great. We think we got the whole tumor out, and the child woke up with no major deficits—exactly what we hoped for and due, in large part, to the use of the magnet. Although I realize that this may not mean much coming from the most junior member of the Neurosurgery staff, I felt obligated to formally note how wonderfully everything ran. Jeanne [Richards] had the room running like clockwork, and it was remarkable how smooth and organized everything was. In addition, Craig [McClain] had the entire anesthesia system going flawlessly, and Joseph [Stec] had the MRI do exactly what it was meant to do in no time flat.
All the team involved in this case went above and beyond the norm to help out. Many folks stayed late and bent over backwards to accommodate the needs of this child. I am grateful to them not only for the extra effort that they made today on behalf of this patient, but also to the longstanding efforts that they have all made over the past few months—including all the folks in Radiology, Anesthesia and Nursing—to make this room work so well.
Our fellow Paul [Klimo] said to me after we finished that this case was the perfect example of why Children's is such a great hospital. I agree completely, and I hope that this letter serves to recognize the great work of all our colleagues.
Best,
Edward Smith, MD
