Remembering Dr. Rakov

           As a mom of many, there are certain responses to pregnancy news that you start to expect around baby number 4.  The wide eyed, sideways glances, the “hmmm.. that’s an interesting choice” look.  “You must be really patient.” “Was this baby planned? …or [please tell me] a surprise?”  Around baby number 5 or 6, there are those who stop congratulating you! -And then there are those who walk your walk with you and fly on that crazy, exciting whirlwind of a ride with sheer, unabated joy!  One of those people for us, was Dr. Bob Rakov.  I simply could not wait to tell Dr. Rakov when I was expecting again.  It never seemed like old news and the more Bradberrys that were added to the family, the more the joy compounded joy and the closer we all grew as friends.  I mean, think about it! Six pregnancies worth of check-ups, then delivery, then well-baby check-ups.  This all adds up to lots of precious time and memories shared.

            Dr. Rakov delivered the middle six of our eight children.  Abigail was the first Bradberry he delivered just a few months after we moved to Snyder.  He may not have delivered our Isaac at birth, but he helped deliver him from death.  He made the right call and the right diagnosis when an ER doctor at a different hospital mistook the DKA from Type I Diabetes for a stomach virus instead.    Our 3rd child, Andrew, was delivered by emergency c-section.  A c-section after two normal deliveries may not have been an expectation on the radar, but I'm thankful for the protection and safety that was provided to us that day.

Andrew with Dr. Rakov

Dr. Rakov sat with us after David, our 4^th baby, was born (VBAC) and with tears in his eyes told us that this baby’s birth was one of the most beautiful he had attended.  He remembered with us the miscarriage that preceded that successful pregnancy and birth. Our 5^th baby, Luke, was born on a Monday morning at 5.  I remember feeling so terrible that Dr. Rakov had to start the first day of the week off with hardly a wink of sleep.  The next night brought another sleepless one for him and he didn’t end up getting our baby boy’s circumcision done while we were in the hospital.  He thought we’d just do it in the clinic in a couple of days.  Dr. Rakov didn’t always follow the rules if they didn’t make sense, always considering his patient(s) and the circumstances as most important.  One thing led to another and he ended up doing that circumcision for free on his kitchen island at home!  
          Over the years our friendship and doctor/patient relationship meant text message medicine, house calls, meet and greets at the back door of the clinic on off hours for everything from stitches to ear infections.  We felt just like we were an extension of his own family!  I know we weren't the only people he served this way either.  He loved to give of himself and his time when he could.

This was a house call for Luke.
Dr. Rakov took a moment to explain something about the airplane Isaac had.

Timothy; age 1

Another one with Timothy

Always an educator, and sweet Emily was often his student nurse... always his baby girl!

Emily pretending to give David a shot

          We followed his care to Lamesa when he began working there and I was his very first appointment there at Medical Arts Clinic on July 2, 2012 at 10.  He greeted my baby bump (Timothy) and I with a hug… in the WAITING room.  I said, “You silly man!  Don’t you know doctors don’t go here?”  Then it was so funny because he couldn’t get back where he was supposed to be without help! Locked. Out.  Over his 5 years in Lamesa I was one of his many couriers to and from Snyder.  I brought everything from his dry-cleaning to a forgotten stethoscope, his sunglasses, suckers from Theresa for “his kids” (patients), her gingerbread cookies and my own cookies too.  

Check-ups for Isaac and David

Our Timothy Daniel with Robert Daniel.  They shared middle names. ;-)
Timothy was born in Snyder, 4 months after Dr. Rakov began work in Lamesa.

          While he worked in Lamesa he shared with me his Google calendar for his schedule so I’d know when to best get appointments with him and which hospital to go to when I was in labor, since he also kept privileges in Snyder.  When I was in labor with our seventh child I could see on that calendar that he was supposed to be back in Lamesa that day, but what I didn't know is that he needed to be there much earlier than normal.  I didn’t want to bother him to let him know I was in labor, so upon arriving and getting settled in a labor room at Cogdell we found out that what was on his google calendar versus the way his day was actually going to go were NOT the same!  Oh. NO.  I mean at this point Dr. Rakov delivering our babies had so much more to do with sentiment and dang tradition than whether or not Snyder had anyone else who could deliver a baby (they do have very qualified physicians of course)!  I had an I.V. in and the knowledge that I was 2 cm dilated.  It was all we could do to get out of there and get to the Lamesa hospital so Dr. Rakov could deliver her that day.  We traveled there hours ahead of him as he needed to get the RV ready to be in Lamesa for the week.  By the time we got checked in to the hospital, however, I was already 8 cm dilated!  His precious partner, Dr. Isabel Molina, began chiding him on the phone, “I’m gonna steal your baby! I’m gonna steal your baby!”  They had the perfect sibling sort of relationship and I loved how they were needling each other back and forth.  She told him that she thought he needed to come directly to the hospital in his R.V. to make it in time to deliver baby Victory.  
When he got there he literally ran in the delivery room and crashed breathless in a chair for a moment. When he realized he had indeed made it on time he had Whitley help him get the RV out of the hospital parking lot.  All in time, of course, for this little victorious gem to be born!  This whole thing was much more comical when it played out in real life!

I'm so glad the guys weren't worried about me and
paused to take a picture of the RV in the hospital's driveway!  HAHA!

          Victory was born to the song "Whom Shall I Fear?" and you can barely hear it in the background of this snippet of a video amidst Dr. Rakov speaking to her.  It is a song that got me through a very dark time, when we went through a 3rd pregnancy loss.  God used Dr. Rakov as a beacon for us during that loss too.  This video shows such a sweet moment.  It is the culmination of a beautiful birth, first baby breaths, and a very meaningful song.

Sweet, sweet day!  The gift bag here had pretty, girly PINK stuff in it for Victory from Theresa and Bob.  Lots of fun for everyone to see a baby girl after a long string of Bradberry boys!

Baby Victory with Bob and Stacy (one of his all-time favorite former OB nurses 
as well as someone else who could share as many sweet memories 
about Dr. Rakov caring for her own family!)

Emily and Bob snuggling with Victory at the Rakovs house

I love you, Theresa!!

More clinical pics I managed to take one day....

I think he was having Abigail talk to Emily on speaker phone.

Victory, 15 months

Abigail's turn to play nurse for little Miss Victory

Checkup for Luke too!

          By the time our eighth baby came along, Dr. Rakov was working in College Station.  He may not have delivered little Sarah, but he texted me all day asking if certain things were being done yet.  It was fun to have both he and Theresa still be a part of that special day via the phone.  

         Dr. Rakov called me on December 17th, exactly a month before he passed away, 6 days after they discovered that he had liver cancer.  The girls and I had a trip planned to see the Rakov family in College Station a couple of days after he was scheduled to have his first targeted radiation treatment.  We were going to see them on January 20th, but sadly Bob passed away on the 17th, 3 days before we could get there, due to an unforeseen medical complication. We’re so sorry we didn’t get to see him then, but we did see him when he came to Snyder to pick up his RV and take it to their new home in College Station.  He stopped by to meet baby Sarah that day, August 17th...  That was the last time we got to see him and we will treasure those moments always.  None of us had any idea, of course, that he'd be gone exactly 5 months later. I'm so very glad I have pictures of him with all of our babies at one point or another. 

Sarah with Dr. Rakov and Abigail

For Dr. Rakov’s funeral I’m singing a song/prayer that has often made me think of him.  I’m going to copy those words of St. Francis’ prayer at the end of this post because I think they embody who he tried to be.  He wasn’t perfect, nor did he claim to be, but he was many times the mouthpiece and sincere servant of Christ for others.  One day I was trying to compliment him with something one of the kids said about him and he replied, “I prefer to think of myself as an instrument. A tool.”  He didn’t take the credit for anything except being that vessel...  For us he was many times the hands and feet of Jesus.  He and Theresa are some of the most giving people I've ever known.  I'm typing this blog on a keyboard he gave me, many of our computers (and tech support on those computers!) and homeschool curriculum came from the Rakovs.  They shared clothing with our children and some of our kids sleep on beds they gave us.  They have inspired us deeply to be giving people as well. 

Dr. Rakov, our beloved physician and friend, there’s no one like you and to say you will be missed is a dreadful understatement!  You mourned with us when we mourned.  You rejoiced with us when we rejoiced.  We’re so thankful for the memories and the time we shared with you this side of heaven.  Thank you for valuing life to the nth degree.  Please, kiss my babies for me! -Those five that we never got to hold.  

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Wherever there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

"When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

'Death is swallowed up in victory.'

'O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?'

"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."  

I Corinthians 15:54-58