The book of awesome: A few of our favourite things

THERAPY DOGS! Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Isaac has been working. He visits the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario with his handler, Julie. Isaac is a Labrador retriever, and he provides therapy to kids receiving care. Isaac and Julie are volunteers with Ottawa Therapy Dogs, and both underwent thorough evaluations to qualify. Ottawa Therapy Dogs is one of many non-profit therapy dog organizations across the country. While the field is not regulated, there are best practices that good organizations follow, including undergoing robust assessments and having liability insurance for volunteers. The St. John Ambulance Society has a national dog therapy program, with more than 3,500 dog and handler teams. Therapeutic Paws of Canada is another national organization. The presence of a therapy dog makes procedures easier, which is why they have worked at COVID-19 vaccination clinics. The canines can help with therapy more directly too, such as when an occupational therapist gets a patient to hold the dog’s leash while walking. Therapy dogs don’t only help patients; every testimonial mentions what the visit meant to the healthcare team. Staff at the Ottawa Hospital recently got a special therapy dog visit just for them, said Lorraine Douglas, operations manager at Ottawa Therapy Dogs. Douglas said that staff therapy dog visits were always considered before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has made it clear how important it was for healthcare professionals “just to de-stress in the staff room with the dogs.” The field of animal-assisted therapy is moving from anecdotal praise to evidence-based practice. A research-driven program at the University of British Columbia called BARK (Building Academic Retention Through K9s) studies the interactions in real time, including a focus on the stress therapy dogs can deliver. A clinical trial involving healthcare staff would surely have no trouble recruiting volunteers. —KYLIE TAGGART SEEING YOUR FIRST DELIVERY When I was a medical student, the most amazing experience of joy came when I watched my first delivery: I didn’t think there could be a more joyful and amazing moment in medicine than witnessing a person meet their new baby for the first time. A few years later, half-way through my obstetrics and gynecology residency, I discovered that there is, in fact, a more joyful moment. For me, there is nothing more amazing than watching a person realize that the one thing they wanted the most in this world— that thing they believed may be an impossibility—has actually come to be. I will never forget the first time I watched an apprehensive woman watch with tearful elation as the tiny heartbeat of her embryo flickered on the screen in front of her. This live pregnancy was something she waited many years for, and it was finally a reality for her. While I wasn’t actively involved in that woman’s treatment plan, I realized in that moment that I wanted to be the one to give that gift to other women in the future. Today I am delighted to say that every tiny six-week embryonic heartbeat I share with a patient is just as joyful a moment as the first time. —DR. GINEVRA MILLS A QUICK FIX! There’s satisfaction in a good reduction of a dislocated joint— that “clunk” when it goes in. As Dr. Mike Simon of Saint John, N.B., points out, many conditions take months if not years to reach a successful outcome. Think diabetes, COPD and mental illness–conditions that do not lend themselves to quick resolutions. “For me, I take satisfaction when the opportunity for a quick fix presents itself,” said Dr. Simon, a family physician. “Like stitching up lacerations, removing lesions with cryotherapy, taking out embedded fish hooks or foreign bodies from a child’s ear. Most times, there’s no need for followup or rechecks or blood tests. The patient is happy and in many cases the parents are ecstatic. And it puts a little wind in my sail.” —COLIN LESLIE DR. GLAUCOMFLECKEN! Dr. Will Flanary has staffed an entire hospital, and everyone looks surprisingly like him. The opthalmologist otherwise known as Dr. Glaucomflecken has created a cast of characters from different specialties of medicine that are featured in his short videos, starring him in simple costumes (e.g., the emergency physicians wear bike helmets). He posts them on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube and they garner millions of views. But more than drawing laughs, his videos spark conversations. They generate hundreds of comments, with the medical community weighing in on what they agree with, what they have experienced, and what specialties to cover next. Recently he’s taken on wider targets, including anti-vaxxers, insurance companies, the CDC and Nature publishing, prompting even more fans and discussions. His followers were worried when he went quiet in May 2020. A Twitter post a few days later revealed that he had a sudden heart attack in the middle of the night, saved by his wife Kristin Flanary (known on Twitter as Lady Glaucomflecken) who performed CPR for 10 minutes until paramedics resuscitated him. She said she knew he was recovering when he reloaded Twitter on his phone. It wasn’t his first time as a patient. He underwent treatment for testicular cancer twice, once during medical school and once during residency. Through it all, he practised stand-up comedy. “I’ve always processed difficult things in my life through the lens of humour,” Dr. Flanary told Dr. Robert Mentz, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cardiac Failure. “It’s about trying to gain control over a situation where you don’t feel in control.” Dr. Glaucomflecken also appears on Cameo, where viewers can purchase personalized messages. Profits go to First Descents, a non-profit that provides outdoor adventures for young adults impacted by cancer. Kristin Flanary has become an advocate of learning CPR and speaks at medical conferences about life as a caregiver, using the terms “co-patient” and “co-survivor.” Flanary wrote about her experience giving CPR in the November 2021 Journal of Cardiac Failure. Before and during the pandemic, Dr. Glaucomflecken has brought the medical community together by gently poking fun at themselves while acknowledging hard truths such as burnout and staffing woes. Humour may be his coping mechanism, but it provides healing to others too. —KYLIE TAGGART

The book of awesome: A few of our favourite things

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