Daughter donates painting to thank doctor for parents' care.
Dr. Sam Berger, left, with Harriette Caplan, holding a picture of her parents Bess and Ted.
Photo/COURTESY
Before Bess and Ted Caplan succumbed to numerous illnesses, they could always count on the devoted care of Humber River Regional Hospital's Dr. Sam Berger.
Recently, their daughter, Harriette Caplan, donated a painting of a young girl running with a kite to the hospital as a way of saying thank you.
"(Berger) is the essence of what you want a doctor to be," Caplan said.
"They should be people first. Many are scientists first. They (doctors like Berger) are human beings and they understand what suffering means."
Berger praised Caplan as a great advocate for her parents and said he was honoured by her donation.
The North York family's relationship with Berger, a specialist in blood disorders and cancer, began in September 1975 when Bess Caplan was admitted to the Finch campus with her first heart attack.
Berger cared for her in the emergency room. When he discharged her, he advised her to see her family doctor.
"If I can't see you, Dr. Berger, I won't see anyone," Bess Caplan replied.
Berger agreed, and cared for Bess Caplan for the next 12 years through many difficult ailments including grand mal seizures, a coma, heart problems, burst blood vessels in her face, dangerously low blood cell and platelet counts, a broken vertebrae, a broken hip requiring hip replacement, a car accident that left her with a broken knee, arm and head injuries, pneumonia and having gall stones removed orally.
In fact, her condition was so unusual, Berger and the Princess Margaret Hospital's Dr. Armand Keating, wrote a medical paper on her in 1988.
Throughout every ordeal, Harriette Caplan said she could always consult Berger.
"He never doubted anything I said. He was always there for her. He was always my connection," she said.
After Bess Caplan died at the age of 67 on Aug. 6, 1987, both Berger and Keating attended her funeral.
Ted Caplan's connection with Berger was much simpler.
"Why? Because he was terrified of doctors and hospitals," Caplan said.
After having his gall bladder removed in 1979, Ted Caplan determined Berger would care for him the same as he cared for his wife.
Berger again agreed and cared for Ted Caplan as he aged and was diagnosed with angina, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and eventually cancer.
After a spot was discovered on Ted Caplan's liver when he was 83, Harriette Caplan said Berger took a humanitarian approach.
Knowing how terrified his patient was of medical procedures, Berger said there was no reason to make him undergo treatment and instead focused on maintaining his quality of life.
"Many doctors are scientists. They want to experiment. That is not what (Berger) said. He didn't want to do intrusive procedures," Caplan said.
"It was a life lesson to me. He (my father) had quality of life until five days before the end of life. Look at the anxiety my father didn't have to undergo."
Ted Caplan died on November 9, 2003.
Caplan said she is grateful for the care Berger gave her parents.
"He (Berger) held it together and the relationship lasted. It was a 28-year professional relationship. That is a long relationship with one doctor," she said.
"I don't think I will get that quality of care because of the times and OHIP and we're catering to so many people needing the system. I just know he (Berger) needed to be honoured because he helped me deal with my parents and their medical necessities in a very human way," she said.