She said "I'm sorry".

"I'm sorry" is a heavy phrase. It can be said for many different reasons and sometimes it means absolutely nothing because it is said with no feeling. No emotion. But then there are times when those that utter these important words genuinely mean it. Today was one of those times. 

Many of you know that Blake has been diagnosed with hypertension. This was found when he had his MRI in early December. Unfortunately, this had been going on for the better part of 6 months when it was discovered. Unfortunately, because this had been going on for so long, his heart was compromised and the walls of his heart are thicker than they should be. All because the doctors and nurses we saw on a regular basis neglected to check twice and then look back into his chart to find out if his normal BP had been high. Unfortunately, until today, I have been angry. I have been carrying around a frustration and anger with the medical profession because their inability to follow through and take an extra 5 minutes to check my child's chart resulted in a thickening of the walls of his heart. 

This all changed in an instance today when she said "I'm sorry". 

We saw our Endocrinologist today. We love her. Her name is Dr. Shankar and she is a beautiful, wonderful, caring person who really listens to her patients. She takes time with each one. She's always running a few minutes late because she's always sitting with her families long enough to make sure all the questions have been answered. So no one complains because she is just that great. Today was no different. She was running behind but we were happy to wait. And then she walked in, said hello to Blake, took an interest in what he was playing with, greeted me, sat down in her chair, pulled herself closer to me, put her hand on my knees and said: 

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry we didn't catch his hypertension sooner. I'm sorry I didn't take the time to look into his chart. I'm sorry it affected his heart and I'm sorry it took us this long to help him in the way he deserves."

She said "I'm sorry" and 3 months of anger and frustration melted away. I cried. Then I hugged her and thanked her for being humble enough to say she was sorry. I told her how much it meant to hear those words and that we were going to be okay. 

And we will okay. One day, one conversation, one doctors appointment, one prayer, one "I'm sorry" at a time.