I was called up from the Reserves to active duty to serve as a medical officer for Operation Desert Storm, during which I broke my back. I was transferred to Wilford Hall in San Antonio, TX and was placed at bed rest in a large 10- bed ward. 

Every day, I waited for that moment or two when the surgical team would round on me. Afterward, the nurses would help wheel my bed down to the hallway where the pay phone was located. 

Back then there were no cell phones, so I would pop in a bunch of quarters and call my wife. The first question out of her mouth was always this: “What did the doctor say?” 

Notice it was always the doctor. Not the team of specialists. Not the Red team or Trauma team. Not the surrogate for the internist. 

I realized how much it meant to me and my family to hear directly from my doctor; I needed that update from him every day.