What I’m thankful for in 2016

This is going to be our last new blog post of 2016! Let’s take a break from technical discussions of important subjects like rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, and RBF. In the spirit of the holidays I’d like to take a step back and reflect on some of the things for which I’m grateful as 2016 comes to a close.

1) As many of you know, my family had some exciting additions this year! About this time last year, my wife handed me an ultrasound picture indicating that we were expecting TWO babies. We had hoped to give Charlie and Caroline a brother or sister this year, but we got one more than we had signed up for (we’ve always been overachievers, I guess). I’m EXTREMELY thankful that Rose and Presley were born in July, a month early but otherwise healthy.

They’re still not sleeping through the night and you wouldn’t believe the number of diapers our household generates, but we’ve been extremely blessed.

2) Because of #1, I am very thankful for my Toyota Sienna minivan! Sounds lame, but you wouldn’t believe how convenient it is when you have to load up a bunch of kids and all their stuff in a hurry! We actually had to buy TWO minivans this year, but, as my wife points out, we’ve never been cool, so we didn’t have that far to fall.

3) I am thankful for the parishioners of St. Thomas Episcopal Church who so graciously opened their arms to us this year.

4) I’m thankful that I learned about using cannulas for soft tissue fillers during the 2016 AAFPRS Fall Meeting. I’ll post more about this next year, but it’s a technology that we can use to minimize bruising, particularly in lips. They’re AWESOME!

5) I’m extremely thankful for my OUTSTANDING office assistants Victoria and Jordan! They point me in the right direction and keep me out of trouble. I’d be lost most days without them! I’m also very thankful for Gail who runs my cosmetic practice.

6) I’m very thankful for all of the patients (new and returning) that have let me help them this year. I chose to be a facial plastic surgeon because I wanted to help people look and feel their best, but I think developing and sustaining relationships with my patients is my favorite part of being a physician.

7) Finally, I’m extremely thankful for my wife Melanie who has been putting up with me since we met in the choir at Duke. When she’s not changing diapers, she teaches surgery at Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She also edits all of my blog posts so it sounds like I know what I’m talking about and have a basic grasp of the English language!

She also is great at soothing the feelings of tired little people when they fall down and bonk their noggins.

Thank you for reading! I hope you get to spend time with the people you love this holiday season. We’ll be back in January!