Patient came to my office yesterday.

No insurance. Got kicked off ACA. Was laid off his job as a line chef at a small restaurant that closed.

Diabetic.

Can’t afford his medications.

Walked in without proper shoe on his right foot, with a 3 cm diabetic ulcer to his forefoot plantarly. Thankfully wasn’t exposed to deep structures like muscle, tendon or bone.

Told my staff to put him in the treatment room. Did full work up, bloodwork, wound cleansing, debridement of the non viable tissue on the wound, vascular assessment.

Put him in a diabetic walking boot that offloaded pressure. Told him to come back twice a week to take care of the ulcer. Wrote him prescriptions that were generic meds with a discount card for his heart, cholesterol and diabetes.

He was leaving and asked my office manager how much it was going to cost. She told him, “Zero”.

He asked, “why?” Stunned.

She replied, “Because Dr Lullove won’t turn away any patient that cannot afford to pay, knowing that you will pay it forward.”

He looked surprised. I walked to the front lobby and put my hand on his shoulder and told him, “What would you do if someone came to your restaurant where you were working and couldn’t afford the food?”

He told me, “We did what you just did for me, we feed them.”

He started crying. He told me 6 other clinics he called either wouldn’t take him as a patient or were going to charge him $250-$400 per visit.

Yes his care cost me money. The boot, dressings, my time.

What did I get in return? A human being who was not tossed to the side. Someone who was shown value; was seen as a human being and not an ATM machine. A person in need.

I gained loyalty. I put a smile on someone’s face today. I showed compassion and empathy. It didn’t hurt me physically, emotionally or cost me my masculinity.

I was doing my job, but I didn’t “have to” — it’s called kindness.

Bring that to your day tomorrow and be kind to someone else - even a stranger.