Dear ADS Members and Partners,
Today I am writing from a place of sadness and self-reflection after losing an amazing healer, educator, mentor, and friend ... Dr. Jim Rudolph. As President of the American Delirium Society, I often get asked about the mission and vision of ADS ... and the traditional answer is that we focus on the pillars of being the Voice for Delirium, creating a Community for clinicians, researchers, and patients to learn from each other and disseminate knowledge, and to be the Thought Leader by pushing the barriers of research, quality improvement and implementation science to advance medical care of patients along the entire age spectrum.
All of that is true. But Jim, being one of the founders of ADS pushed us to remember that ADS represents so much more within every one of us. Each day as I head into work, there is a balance to find in the numerous hats we wear, roles we play, care we provide, that extends to those we love in our home and who provide the necessary foundation for our success. There will always be the grind...writing the next grant, taking the next administrative title, working another call shift, reviewing a manuscript...that often leads to missing another dinner, absence from a school conference, getting fast-food on the way home, and falling asleep watching the news. Being part of the American Delirium Society brought me face to face with people just like me, struggling to make it all work, to advance my career while making a difference to my patients, and yet being a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend. The special sauce in the constant tug-of-war of the career-life balance for the medical professional has always been and will always be our patients. That look of sincere gratitude for being there late, for taking the extra shift, for reading that new article that creates excitement for another treatment or idea for diagnosis, and for being there all the way to the end, if the end is to come.
Life is not perfect, but the people in it, in so many ways, are. I reflect on Jim's life and what I would want people to remember about me. He believed in something so much greater than him. He relied on his faith, his amazing and supportive family, his team, and his mentees. He believed in each of us at ADS and encouraged us to put aside ourselves and walk the walk we so often talk about. I still wish I didn't have to miss dinners or special events. Yet, my daughter, now a freshman at Auburn (WAR EAGLE!!), told me the other day, she doesn't remember my periodic absence as some hole in her life. She is proud of who I am and what I stand for. When she was younger and attending a school event with my husband, people would ask, "Where's your mom?" and she would simply say, "my mommy takes care of sick babies," with the biggest, proudest smile. We all get up every day to take care of sick patients. Jim worked until the end...Because it was written in his DNA to care for others. This is the fabric that Jim wove to create the American Delirium Society, and I hope that each of us adds our section to an ever-growing quilt of care, knowledge, teamwork, and understanding that surrounds each of our patients. Give your family a hug tonight, and tomorrow keep walking the walk.
With gratitude,
Heidi AB Smith, MD, MSCI
President, American Delirium Society
