Can a donation to the TMF Physician’s Health Program change a life?
The answer is yes. If you could hear all the stories we’ve heard about health professionals who have been restored to their health, their families and their practices through the TMF Physician’s Health Program, you would know the importance of supporting this critical mission in Tennessee. We’ve collected a few of them for you here.
“At the height of my addiction, I was a doctor with a perfect life, and I wanted to die.”
“In January 2015, I was drowning, helpless and alone, with seemingly death as my only way out. The TMF saved my life. The angels that work there plucked me out of that dark, lonely, scary place called active addiction and got me into treatment the very next day. They loved me when I was at my most unlovable and when I had given up on any chance of life. They gave selflessly and showed me a way to get a life that is even better than I could have ever imagined. ‘Thank you’ is simply not enough.”
— Internal Medicine Physician
“I Had a Crushed Spirit”
“I self-prescribed Adderall and was placed on two years of probation. Things could have been so much worse for me had it not been for the TMF’s support and advocacy. I am truly grateful for my recovery program and wanted to express my gratitude to you and your staff for helping me through such a difficult time in my life. I remember being destitute, losing my children in a bad divorce, and living above my parents’ garage for almost two years after leaving (treatment). I had a crushed spirit. Today, I am spiritually engaged in my life and work as a physician. I have a house and a happy family. The promises really do come true.”
— Family Medicine Physician
The Gift of Healing
“I have seen the effects of my addiction not only in myself but also in other members of my family. I have also seen the sobriety and healing that have come during my recovery in myself and my family members. I want these gifts for other addicts and their families.”
— Allergy/Immunology Physician
A New Life
“Today I like the guy I see in the mirror. The TMF didn’t save my old life, they showed me a way to a new life.”
–Internal Medicine Physician
Waiting to Die
“In 1992 I was just waiting to die from my addiction to hydrocodone. Every day was spent in search of the drug and ways to hide it. It consumed me as surely as cancer. When finally confronted by my wife, I vaguely remembered hearing about the TMF at a conference and called them. I felt immediate relief from speaking with someone who understood and lovingly offered a solution. I thank God they still offer the same today and are available just for the asking.”
— OB/GYN Physician
Young and Scared
“I came into the hands of the TMF as a resident physician, young and scared of being told I couldn’t practice medicine. The TMF viewed me as an asset to my community, but someone who was sick and needed help. I was treated with respect and encouragement as I completed my residency and started as a faculty member at a university here in Tennessee. The TMF even came to support me and advocate for me when I had to apply for my medical license in Tennessee, a nerve-wracking experience that put me before the Medical Board. Because of the TMF and their attitude toward me, I have become a better and more empathic physician with patients struggling with all forms of addiction and mental health conditions. I certainly owe a large part of my continued ability to serve my community to the TMF.”
–Internal Medicine/Peds Physician
Eternally Grateful
“I was about to lose my license and be put on the permanent scrap-pile of unemployable impaired physicians for my erratic behavior during a manic episode. But TMF swept in and sent me to treatment and then energetically advocated for me before the Board and preserved my license and medical career.”
— Family Medicine Physician
“The Program Works”
“Many years ago a partner in my medical group became addicted to narcotics. One night he mistakenly injected an artery and almost lost an arm. I admitted him to our hospital in order to save the arm. TMF came and counseled with him and he recovered both physically and mentally and continued to be an outstanding physician, and is still practicing medicine today. I have seen firsthand the miracles that the TMF and its physicians and employees perform on a daily basis. The program works.”
— TMF Supporter/Volunteer
Saving Lives
“Thank you so much for everything. Your work is truly saving lives; Lord knows, it saved mine. I look forward to a future, in large part because of the work your Foundation provides. God bless!”
–Physician Assistant
TMF Guidance
“Alcoholism had driven me to the brink of losing my career, my family, and my very life. I called TMF and they guided me to treatment, and continue to guide and support me in recovery. With their endorsement and support I was able to retain my employment, renew my relationships and rediscover a happy, peaceful life. I am forever grateful to TMF.”
–Internal Medicine Physician
The Worst Thing…
“It was the worst thing that happened in my life when I got into alcohol, and I have been rescued or relieved of that on a daily basis. I just am so grateful to the program, to the good Lord, and everybody else associated (with my recovery).”
— Anesthesiologist
Save and Restore
“We are fortunate to have such a committed group of folks dedicated to helping save and restore health professionals to a full and active life.”
— Internal Medicine Physician
I See Miracles Happen
“The TMF treated me like I was sick, not bad, and they continue to treat the addicted physicians in the state of Tennessee that way today. By staying involved with the TMF I get to see miracles happen and that means the world to me.”
— Pharmacist
Finding Hope
“July 13, 2004 was a blazing 90-degree-plus day in Nashville with humidity nearly as high as the temperature. I was dressed in a pair of thick sweatpants and a heavy hooded sweatshirt. I was on my way to the last place in the world I wanted to go – a meeting with a bunch of doctors downtown at Baptist Hospital. Eight hours earlier, I had been discharged from the detox unit at the Vanderbilt Institute for the Treatment of Addiction (VITA), part of the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital. I thought my life and my career, which I had worked so hard for, were over. That evening a large group of doctors, men and women, took turns sharing how they had earned their seats in the circle. They looked happy and were thriving in their careers. They were neither distraught nor angry. I felt hope for the first time in years. I thought if they could thrive, maybe I could, too, if I just followed the path they did. It was the most important insight I had ever had. At the end of the meeting, a big, burly orthopedic surgeon wearing a Hawaiian shirt gave me a white chip and a bear hug, nearly crushing my ribs. He whispered in my ear, ‘You’re going to be okay.’ I will love this man until I die for this one moment of kindness and compassion. From that moment, people (within TMF) loved me and showed me a way to live I never dreamed possible. I made lifelong friends and today I like the guy I see in the mirror. The Tennessee Medical Foundation didn’t save my old life, they showed me a way to a new life.”
— Internal Medicine Physician
Why I Give to the TMF
“As long as I’m working, I will continue to donate; it’s a cause that helps so many of us, our families, and our patients and communities. You know, when a doc gets addicted and begins that inexorable downward spiral, it’s like a slow-motion boulder landing in the middle of a pond with the concentric waves moving outward, until every part of that pond gets hit. The process of recovery is very similar. It lands on you like a ton of bricks(!) but the consequences of that recovery will eventually spread out and affect everyone in your ‘pond’ in an unbelievably positive way. It takes a while — really, a lifetime — but if you stay sober and simply use the tools we’re given in the fellowship, we can slowly but surely set things right again in our world. And that’s one of God’s own miracles, just as sure as the turning of the earth.”
— Family Medicine Physician
Physicians are people, too. They struggle with addiction, emotional and mental health issues and more. The stories we share here are just a fraction of the lives impacted by the TMF-PHP.
Your gifts are key to maintaining this comprehensive, rehabilitation-focused program for doctors and other health professionals who succumb to addiction or have emotional or mental health issues. Please help us give them a second chance. You can commit to supporting the TMF-PHP monthly, quarterly or annually; we also appreciate your one-time gifts. All donations are tax-deductible and you can be sure that your dollar is supporting our work to restore doctors and other health professionals to their lives, their families, and their patients.
Please help us save lives and save careers by giving today. Thank you!