07/29/2026
I was driving back from Dallas to Austin one evening and texted one of my best buddies, a neurosurgeon.
“Wanna grab some wings and a beer?”
He replied, “Absolutely.”
We met at BJ’s. He was still on call, so no beer - just chicken strips.
As we sat down, he told me he had just spent nearly 14 hours operating on a 16-year-old who had suffered a devastating shotgun wound to the face. Despite everything they did, the young man didn’t survive. Just minutes before meeting me, he had been the one to tell the family their son was gone.
Then he picked up the menu and said, “Man…these chicken strips look incredible right about now.”
That moment has stayed with me for years. It wasn’t that he didn’t care - it was that he had learned to compartmentalize in a way most of us never will or never will have to. Later, he told me that for roughly 25 years, from residency through private practice, he had never had a month with fewer than 18 days of call 😳
Memories like this always make me appreciation what physicians, nurses, PAs, NPs, first responders, and so many other healthcare professionals carry every day. Most of us only see them for a few minutes during one of the hardest days of our lives. We rarely see what they were dealing with just before they walked into our room - or what they’ll have to face after they leave.
To all of you who carry that burden day after day: thank you. Your work matters more than most people will ever fully understand 🙏