Someone is “Expecting”…
About 33 years ago, as I began my career teaching physicians on the topic of practice management, I developed and taught the first-ever Procedure and Diagnosis Coding course for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Exciting, right? It gets better.
What is known as the Global Maternity Package (GMP) includes visits with the physician or midwife once monthly until 28 weeks gestation, bi-weekly until 36 weeks, and weekly until delivery. This totals about 18-20 visits. The GMP also includes the delivery and about two postpartum visits. In addition to those visits with the doctor/midwife, there are labs, ultrasounds, amniocentesis, etc. While those are not part of the GMP, they are very much part of the preparation. There are also countless books and conversations that go into planning and preparing for one of the biggest things that happens in a lifetime – the arrival of a new life.
Contrast that with the number of visits with a professional, the reading, preparation, and conversations that typically go into the other big thing that happens in a lifetime – the end of a life.
This comparison was weighing heavily on my mind nearly two years ago when I drafted a micro-essay called “Expecting,” based on my experience with Bob, preparing for his death, and my survivorship. The essay became a poem; there were submissions, rejections (you know I love those), some with feedback (even better), rewrites, and resubmissions. It was accepted and published by Intima: Journal of Narrative Medicine in the Spring 2022 issue. Narrative Medicine is a medical approach that utilizes patients' stories in clinical practice, research, and education to promote healing.