In Memory

Of Dr. Walter Wright

August 21, 1928 - August 1, 2008

Doctors, obviously, have always been a large part of my life. I was pretty lucky as a child because I always had great doctors - I was never a child who hated going to the doctor. Well, maybe sometimes if shots were going to be involved, but overall, I was not terribly traumatized.

And Dr. Wright is probably one of the reasons I am spoiled when it comes to medical care. I didn't realize until later in life that there are some not so great doctors out there - whether it's their bedside manner or their recommendations for my health care - I've gone to some of those not so great ones. Fortunately, I've had enough good experiences to know when I run into a dud.

Dr. Wright was my orthopedist from pretty much the beginning. He operated on me for the first time when I was four. He only had one other opportunity to operate, but I spent many an afternoon walking the halls of his office. When I was young, I thought you just went to see the doctor to walk. My mother and I would go to see Dr. Wright and he'd come in and say, "Let me see you walk, weiner." [Nice nickname, I know.] So I'd walk. And he'd watch me, take notes, and sometimes get other folks to watch me walk. He always had a smile on his face and seemed to genuinely care about me.

My mother called last night and said, "I have some bad news," which is never a good way for a conversation to start. She told me that she'd seen Dr. Wright's obituary in the paper. It's kind of odd, I haven't seen him in at least 15 years and knew he had retired and had to be old. So, I wasn't really surprised and I was sad, but it didn't phase me too much. He's not a part of my every day life anymore and hasn't been for years. After I talked to my mother, my father got on the phone and told me how sorry he was and how he knew I'd lost a special friend. It took me a second to realize he meant Dr. Wright. And what hit me then is that that's what Dr. Wright was to them. He took good care of me, their youngest, when they didn't know what to do. It's hard to have a child with a physical disability, I have no doubt that my parents were stunned, and it must be the best thing in the world to feel like you've found a good team of doctors to take care of your little one.

As I write this, I am sad about Dr. Wright's death. He was a great doctor and a great man. I wish I'd kept in touch with him. I know he had hundreds of patients, but I think, selfishly, that he would have enjoyed knowing how I turned out and what I've been up to. He was probably more important in my life than I realized, just because I was too young to realize anything other than he was always concerned about me and wanted the best for me.

When I was 14, Dr. Wright did a pretty extensive surgery on my right foot. I remember being wheeled through the pre-op area and whoever was pushing me saw Dr. Wright and said, "Oh, Dr. Wright, do you want to say anything to your patient?" He said, "What patient?" Then acted surprised to see me and he winked at me. He was always good at making me laugh and I know that helped me relax a little before the dreaded surgery. After that surgery, I had a pretty rough time and my foot got infected. Dr. Wright referred me to another doctor for wound care and my mother told me later that they never got one bill from the other doctor. Dr. Wright took care of all of the costs associated with the infection. How many doctors do that? It wasn't his fault and he wasn't responsible for the infection but he wanted to make sure I got the care I needed.

I think it's kind of a sign of the circle of life that I went water skiing this weekend. While Dr. Wright was leaving his life here, a door was opening for me physically. He would have loved it, I know he would have.