When I moved to Irvington in May 2013, I had been at least two years away from the primary care physician that had attended to me when I lived in St Louis Missouri. I cannot remember the sequence of events that prompted me to find a PCP in Indianapolis, but after some investigation, I found a doctor who practiced at Community Hospital East on East Washington Street, which was just a few miles from my “loft” at Bolton Street and Julian Avenue. My first appointment was in the nature of the “hello, nice to meet you;” my next appointment was in the nature of, “WHERE DID YOU GO?” My doctor had moved her practice to the Northside Family Care center on East 82nd Street., and I had missed the notification. I called the office and explained that I did not know about the move and asked for lenience; I got to 82nd Street, and once again, saw Dr. Sarah Curry.
In my column “I Love My Doctor;” (Weekly View, 01/19/2017) I wrote of how Dr. Curry “bounced brightly into the exam room” on my first visit with her. This behavior never varied in all the years that she has been my PCP. In April 2021, I noted an unusual swelling and redness in my leg, and when I called the office, I was told to get my butt to the office – STAT! – which I did. (No one barked “STAT” at me, but all the hospital and police procedurals I watch have that as a catchphrase for emergencies.) An ultrasound exam found that I had a blood clot. I wrote of that event in my column “On Health,” (Weekly View, 05/27/2021.) Despite the seriousness of my medical condition, Dr. Curry was upbeat and positive with me, advising me and prescribing for me ways to combat what I humorously named my “Clottie.” Which has been long dissolved.
When I told Dr. Curry the story of how she had once skipped out on me, she laughed, and said that she was glad that I had tracked her down. As am I; though my medical needs are generally modest, it helps to know that the physician who advises me on ways to combat my gout and dissolve my “Clottie” is someone who knows me and shows genuine concern for me as an individual.
On June 2nd, 2025, I received a letter from Dr. Curry, and as I read it, I found myself getting “verklempt;” Dr. Curry is leaving Indiana and going to practice in Boulder Colorado. Her letter gives me instructions on ways to find another provider for my health care and she thanks me (and all the other patients who received the letter) for “(our) trust and loyalty.” I doubt that any of her other patients had to do any “skip-tracing” to find her, as I did, but then — they probably read the notice that said that she was moving. I have read and re-read this current notice that Dr. Curry is moving, and I wish that it was not true. But there is this: In the 1940s, the radio broadcaster Edward R. Murrow coined a phrase that was an outgrowth of the bombing of London, when people parted with no assurance of ever seeing one another, again. Murrow took the term to the air and ended his broadcasts with it: “Good night, and good luck.”
Dr. Sarah Curry, as my mother often asked me to sing to her, I sing again, “thanks, for the time that you’ve given me,” and say with both regret and joy:
Goodbye, and good luck.
cjon3acd@att.net