Jim Stern Coaching

JANICE, OVERCOMING THE ODDS

A red tuna moving the opposite direction
A red tuna moving the opposite direction

One of Boston’s major business sectors is in healthcare.  Patients come from all over the world to be treated by the best in this burgeoning industry.  You never really know who you might be picking up at these great hospitals & clinics, and I often wonder are they a doctor, nurse, patient or visitor.

As I approached the Mass Eye & Ear Hospital on the Charles Street extension, I kept an eye out for someone checking their phone for a ride share arrival. There standing on the curb with a big smile on her face was Janice; she hopped in with an energetic vibe and was headed to Waltham, which is in my neck of the woods. I was happy to be heading toward home and we immediately hit it off… Janice mentioned that she was born in NYC, lived in NJ (me too), grew up in Kentucky and was now in Waltham which she loves. Needless to say, we were not short on conversation.

We talked about our mutual frustration for finding great NYC/NJ quality pizza (I think it’s the water).  We got into where to find great sandwiches… Bagelsaurus, Darwins, Clover, HiRise & Flour are my personal faves. We both agreed that Darwins is pretty darn good.  Then we talked about what brought her to this area…

A Medical Condition I can Relate To

It turns out she is up here due to a medical condition, and not just any medical condition: a brain tumor, or should I say Brain Tumors, as she has 3!  This immediately resonated with me, as my dad passed away due to a brain tumor when I was in between my sophomore & junior high school years.   Her attitude about it was just amazing.  She was extremely positive and mentioned that they were not malignant tumors and was very hopeful that they would be removed when conditions were right in the future.

Gratitude

Janice said that she feels so much gratitude in her life, how supportive her parents have been, but not so much in the emotional department.  She was cool with that and understood why they might be having some difficulties coming to terms with their daughter’s condition.  She was thankful for the other areas they were being supportive.  Other than dealing with her medical treatments, Janice spends her free time volunteering at an elder care facility, and is looking for one more volunteer opportunity to work with children.

UBER Cares

t is not often that you meet someone dealing with such a severe medical condition who has such an optimistic view on life. My kind of person.  Of course, I had to give her one of my gratitude coins, which she truly appreciated.  With such a positive view of her life, I could only feel the same for her future and I wished her well, hoping we would meet again.  I wish I could do more for people like this, in fact, I have an idea which I wish Uber would adapt: drivers would sign up for what I would call UBER Cares, allowing participating drivers to donate (1) NO-Charge ride per day to a patient being picked up at a hospital. An easy way to let these patients know that we care about what they are going through, and hoping people like Janice will overcome the odds.

I’m ready to sign up, anyone else?

  • Names & any identifying factors have been changed to protect the confidentiality of those © Driving Insights 2018

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