Give Your Life To Your Work, Not For It: The Death and Life of Dr. Dan Leafblad

I had dinner a couple nights ago with my long time friend Dan Leafblad and his wife Barbara. Though our lives have moved apart a bit lately they are the types of friends where you can pick up right where you left off. Dan and I trained as residents together, he in OB-GYN, me in Oral Surgery. Our kids grew up together and we shared the stresses and strains of private practice though Dan's road was much, much harder. He was up delivering babies so often and having to see more and more patients in the clinic to satisfy his partners until one day his body decided it was through doing that. Dan and Barbara had been moving a big TV at Costco and, when he got into the car, he felt nauseated. Thinking this was just another bout of reflux he had his wife take him to the hospital where he so frequently spent his time. Luckily the woman at the front desk was his patient and got him directly into the ER where, while the nurse was out of the room, Dan suffered a cardiac arrest. His wife heard him thrashing against the bed while she was outside the room and immediately got help. He was in for the whole nine yards, intubation, defibrillation and chest compressions but he survived. After extensive hospitalization and rehab as well as an implantable defibrillator Dan was declared fully disabled, unable to function in the high cortisol world of surgical stress.
We reminisced about how when we were young in this business we thought we were immortal. We worked hard and there was a certain amount of pride associated with how hard we could work....for a while. Neither of us realized that one day we would be sitting across the table celebrating the fact that he was dead but now alive. Six years earlier I had developed an arrhythmia related directly to surgical stress and it gave me permission to cut back my hours and eliminate major facial reconstructive cases, for which I am thankful.
As I sit this week with 700 dentists and team members at the Seattle Study Club International Symposium I wonder, "How many of my friends here realize that how they treat their bodies now may determine whether and how well they will function in the future?" Secondly, I wonder, "How can I tell them? How can I keep them from making the same mistakes that Dan and I made?" This blog is the initial attempt at telling everyone that our bodies will eventually say, "No, I can't do that anymore!" When your body makes that decision is largely up to you and me.
Functional Strength© will be a focus for Lionsgate Leadership Coaching this year. I'll write more about the program and how to get involved soon.