Got my dad discharged from the hospital today. Thank you to everyone who reached out, prayed, and checked in. At 94 years old, every hospital visit carries a little extra weight, so walking him out of there today felt like a victory.
But after spending the better part of two days sitting quietly in a hospital room, observing the healthcare system up close again, I left with a strange feeling in my chest. Gratitude for the people. Concern for the system.
Meet Jim. Jim’s job is to push this “Care Box” around the hospital delivering coffee, caffeine, and snacks to the doctors, nurses, and staff working unbelievably hard shifts caring for people. And before anyone misunderstands me, this is not a criticism of Jim. Jim was kind. The nurses were kind. The staff worked hard. You can feel the humanity in the people.
But I want you to zoom in on the cart.
Look closely at what fuels the very people responsible for keeping human beings alive and healthy.
Candy bars. Processed sugar. Junk food. The exact kind of stuff most parents ration out to their kids after Halloween before hiding the rest in a cabinet somewhere so they don’t end up at the dentist by Thanksgiving.
And somehow this exists inside a hospital in the heart of Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest and supposedly most advanced places on Earth.
We spend trillions treating disease while surrounding both patients and caregivers with the very things that contribute to it. We train people to fight heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, obesity, and metabolic dysfunction… while normalizing the daily consumption of products directly tied to those outcomes.
Again, this isn’t about blaming exhausted nurses grabbing a Snickers after a 12 hour shift. It’s about stepping back and asking how we collectively decided this was normal.
The system is filled with good people. But somewhere along the way, we built an environment that often works against the very mission it claims to serve.
Still, today was a good day. Pops is home. And that’s what matters most. I’m heading to the gym before I fly home to Miami, mission completed. 😎
