Grateful Cardiac Rehab Patient Frank Gilliam Shares Appreciation
This is a submitted letter of thanks from a patient, Frank Gilliam, who shares his experience with Baptist Cardiac Rehab and other team members:
Hey Gang!
What a long, strange trip it’s been. This is a line from The Grateful Dead, whose songs I often liked. It describes my life since April 2023 very well and summarizes my last session with Baptist Health Care Cardiac Rehab. My time here has been such an integral and essential aspect of the part of the trip toward post-operative improvement. A simple handshake and nod of ‘thanks’ will not do it for me. Let me convey my gratitude for all you have done for me over these past several months. I really must give thanks and begin long before coming to cardiac rehab, as all medical personnel at Baptist, from the surgeons to the shift nurses and beyond, have been nothing short of exceptional.
I see the professionalism I have witnessed among you as an extension of what I saw in the hospital. In short, you had big shoes to fill and filled them admirably. I have long tried to live by what I call the gratitude way of life, wherein one focuses on the various gifts in life, rather than on things we feel we are owed.
I cannot honestly say that I am grateful to have had 99+% blockage in my cardiac arteries (This is true, and I was never symptomatic). On the other hand, considering that such a condition was inherited and, thus, was inevitable, what I am grateful for is all the events that led to and emanated from the surgery, including how your efforts have contributed so essentially to my path to recovery. What a long, strange trip it’s been, indeed! I am so deeply appreciative that you were all a part of it.
Regards,
Frank Gilliam
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