My father wanted one of his three sons to be a doctor. He believed that this way he would have the best care at the end of his life. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy, I guess. We haven’t made much progress in palliative care, but that’s another story. He couldn’t get any of the three of us to study medicine. The one who was closest to me was my sister Maite, who knows everything about the eyes as an optometrist, and is also a very good caregiver. Maite knows how to read looks like nobody else.
A doctor is, above all, someone who takes care of you. Not only the body, but also the soul. We have confirmed it in the pandemic. I say doctor but in reality I mean all health workers, who are healers. More than applause they need recognition and resources, and we should have learned that after this crisis.
All toilets are healers. More than applause they need recognition and resources, and that should have been learned from you after this crisis
I say doctor specifically because I want to pay tribute to those who have left their mark on me. I’ll start with my uncle Victor. Well, he was my mother’s uncle. Pediatrician, first cousin of my grandfather José María. He had been able to study medicine although the family fortune was less and in recent years he had difficulties. I remember that he was consulting on Calle Conde de Peñalver, at his home. He was big and nice.
My mother asked him any questions about our upbringing. “The oldest speaks alone with an invisible friend. I have to worry?” I think I was three years old and my sister Maite was already born but I invented Moni and everyone had to make room for her or take her into account. Uncle Victor is a legend in my family. He could not cure his son, condemned to a wheelchair for life, but he saved thousands of children.
I have not been sickly, but when I have had a health problem it has not been anything. One August more than a decade ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was distraught until I confirmed the scope of what I had, but when I found out and it was not as serious as I initially believed, I breathed a sigh of relief.
When I was really safe was when I found my oncologist, Laura G. Estévez. The first impression was not good because it made it clear that I had to undergo chemo, even if not even the lymph nodes were affected. I wanted to deny myself. It was my sister Maite who helped me focus: “She is an excellent professional, you are in good hands. And chemo is still a medicine. Don’t be prejudiced. We’ll see how you handle it ”.
Laura G. Estévez and her team, Encarna had not yet arrived, but I did deal with her later, they gave me peace of mind. Everything was under control. In addition, he encouraged me to continue working if that is what I wanted, to practice sports, to lead a healthy life, and every time I had an idea he encouraged me to do reports so that it was spread as widely as possible.
She created an information app for women with breast cancer, Contigo, psychological therapy workshops, and every year she celebrates a meeting about breast cancer that I advise you not to lose yourself. Thanks to her I met Carmen, a brave woman who taught me how beautiful human beings can be.
From that stage I also remember a doctor from the Torrelodones hospital who first put me on the track of the Clara Campal Comprehensive Cancer Center, where Laura has just created her breast unit. When a test was questionable, he repeated it to me and it came back negative. That meant they didn’t have to remove my nodes. Then I came across it by chance when in a test it looked like it might have bone metastases. He encouraged me with deep empathy. Years later I learned that he was already ill with cancer and had died.
And so we come to who has inspired this column: doctor Lapuente, a doctor at the Galapagar health center. Luis is retiring tomorrow, August 20, and I know that I will not be the only patient who will miss him. What I like most about Dr. Lapuente is that he knows how to reassure the patient. Gives confidence. And a cancer survivor has many ghosts, believe me. “My arm hurts. Could it be a metastasis? If he sees that he has to take a test, he does it, but with great peace.
Although from Friday I will no longer be in the consultation, I will continue listening to Dr. Lapuente .. He has a program on Radio 3, where he is known as Doctor Soul
This year has been one of hundreds of thousands of primary care that has been overwhelmed. He passed the Covid and saw how many of his patients suffered from it and saw their relatives get sick and some die. It gave me peace of mind knowing that he was there if I had any questions during these tough months. “A colleague has tested positive. I had not dealt with her but I did coincide in a small space. I have a headache but no fever. Do I get tested? ”. And he would respond after a while: “Come, and you discard it.” It is one of those people with whom you always think that the good option is the only possible one.
Even if I am no longer in the office as of Friday, I will continue to listen to Dr. Lapuente. He is passionate about music, I would say the greatest soul expert in our country. He directed the Galapajazz. He has written some books, among them, The pier of the bay. A history of soul O The land of a thousand Dances. He has a program on Radio 3, where he is known as Doctor Soul. I recommend you read this column while listening to the music selected by him in Diaries of the Sonideros Pandemic. It gives us reason to believe.
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