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Christmas And Dr. Eiben

Creator: n/a
Date: 1959
Publication: Toomeyville Jr. Gazette
Source: Gazette International Networking Institute
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 1  Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7

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Probably everyone has someone in their life who has meant so much to them that describing him is beyond ordinary expression. Last June the ex-patients of Toomey, who have felt the magnitude of Dr. Eiben, secretly decided to tell him about it with these individual tributes. During the past six months, there were many notes of discouragement because none of us knew the words to fit the size of the feeling.

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If you do not know Dr. Eiben, you may have once known someone like him who, through all tests, seems to possess a quality somehow beyond the rest of mankind -- for you.

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This issue is dedicated to our Chief -- Dr. Robert M. Eiben, the Medical Director of Cleveland's Respiratory Center.
The Editorial Staff

CHRISTMAS AND DR. EIBEN
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The Christmas issue is the most appropriate edition to devote to Dr. Eiben, because the season and the man are so alike. This statement may lead you to wonder how a holiday season and a human being can possibly have any similarity. In this article I will attempt to show exactly how they are synonymous.

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They both inspire hope. Christmas and all its connotations bring hope to the hearts of everyone in the essential goodness of man. This is the season when faith in mankind is restored and strengthened. So also does Dr. Eiben impart hope to his many polio patients. Take to him any seemingly solutionless problem; he takes your problem very seriously, first restores your faith in yourself, then presents new angles, and together you conquer the problem. You may think that such a busy man would not have time to listen to your troubles. Dr. Eiben takes time. Helping people is his business and he devotes most of his time to those who need him. And, take it from one who has received his help many times, they appreciate it. Do you recognize another similarity? Christmas is a time for giving gifts; and Dr. Eiben is always giving his gifts of kindness, understanding and patience.

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And there is still a third way in which they are alike. They are both welcomed with warmth and enthusiasm. The joyous season of Christmas with its spirit of good will is always heartily received as are the warm personality and good sense of humor that Dr. Eiben possesses. The two are always greeted with sincere welcome.

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There you have three reasons why this wonderful season is a most excellent time to pay tribute to this wonderful man.
Donna McGwinn

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One of the many virtues of having had polio is that I now have time to think. When doing my thinking I find that I am more often than not giving thanks rather than damnations.

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That the editors of Junior should have, consciously or unconsciously, chosen this time of year to pay tribute to Dr. Eiben is most appropriate. For it is the time of thanksgiving and joy, and it is apropos that I publicly give thanks to Dr. Eiben.

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I can't make him Doctor of the year, have Congress strike a 24 carat solid gold medal, or the post office issue a commemorative stamp in his honor. But I do make him benefactor of my 24 carat solid gold thanks. Dr. Eiben "stamped" himself commemoratively in the hearts of thousands of polios and non-polios by being the man, friend, and doctor we would all like to be.
John Lambour

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All doctors are interested in helping people in general and the progress made in techniques, medicines and equipment. However, a truly great doctor, such as Dr. Eiben, that devotes all of his time and energy to a hospital practice has a more than average interest in us, the patients. Let's be practical -- we all know that a private practice would be much more profitable -- in a monetary way, that is.

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Dr. Eiben does not treat only the disease -- he treats the patient. We all know that the disease varies in each individual, as to intensity and involvement. There are also other things to be considered: degrees of maturity, ability to adjust, having someone on the "outside" to care and help, finances, vanity, intelligence and many, many more. All these things mean a great deal to him when he treats one.

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I personally have see Dr. Eiben come into our ward tired, and not feeling too well himself. If anyone of us presented him our problem, whether it be about our eggs not being served to our satisfaction that morning, or a very important problem, he listened. I mean he really listened. Lots of people listen, but you know before you are through stating your case that you have lost them. I cannot say in all honesty that he solved everything for all of us. He is not a Solomon. He did care and try to help us find a little insight into things over which we had not control. He encouraged us to use our full faculties, both mental and physical. He was one of us and never made us feel there was even the thinnest line between patient and doctor. He discussed his family with us and we with him. There was a comraderie there that I have never found in any hospital before or with any other professional man.

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To be this devoted to your profession and fellow man is a true virtue and comes from a very deep unselfish feeling. I comes not from a desire to be rich or famous but to help. He, to me, is what all doctors are supposed to signify.

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