Dr. Axelrod, the hippo and the person

Dr. Axelrod was on Natalie's surgery team post-transplant. He was a no-nonsense, get down to business, sort of a guy, but then again that is a trait that we see in most surgeons. Many of our nurses never saw eye-to-eye with him - mostly because he was more hands on than they were used to.
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When we wanted Natalie's staples removed (from the transplant surgery) he located a suture removal kit on the floor and took to the task with our nurse wondering what in the world had just happened.

When Natalie had a bleed some 5 days after transplant, he got the crib ready for transport and then he ran along the crib, pushing syringes of Albumin into her veins, while the nurses pushed blood.

And when she had her issues with PTLD and hemolytic anemia, he, even though there was never really a medical reason, made frequent stops to our hospital room to check on "His Girl." Then late, last summer, as he was leaving the hospital to go to the East Coast, stopped by the room, to give his girl a hippo beanie, which of course is now aptly named Dr. Axelrod.

So to Dr. Axelrod, thank you. Thanks for taking care of our girl. We'll never forget you.

~~submitted by Becca