I was recently reminded of how amazing our hands are when I injured my left hand. It was difficult for me to do many tasks that I once took for granted

As I was bemoaning my own plight one day, I was called to assist an MO to remove an ingrown nail. When I approached the patient, I was shocked to see that her nails were on her right hand were malformed and grew in a strange curvature- hence one of them were ingrown and caused her pain. She said, “Doctor, please take care of this hand I have a lot of work to do”. I made small talk with her during the procedure, and she told me she still cooked for her four grown boys. The procedure was thankfully simple and she stayed stoic throughout.

At the end of the procedure, she said, “Doctor, you want to see my left hand?” As she took her left hand out of the blanket, I was shocked to see that she merely had a left palm, no fingers at all!

It struck me then that the wonder of our hands lies not only in what they are capable of, but in what we choose to do with what we have. I had been mourning the temporary loss of function in one hand, while before me was someone who had spent a lifetime cooking, caring, raising four sons and simply getting on with life with so much less. As I watched her leave, holding her husband’s hand and smiling, I felt profoundly humbled. Some encounters in medicine teach us more than any textbook ever could. This was one of them and a priceless reminder not to take for granted the hands with which we work, create, care, heal and hold those we love.

Shin Ying is a mommy of two teenage children who is still trying to figure herself out. She works as an emergency physician and medical educator at Changi General Hospital. Most of the time though, she is dreaming of what to paint and read next. You can check her doodles out @life_with_an_artitude on Instagram.