Michael Blanchard was very open about his recent stay for intestinal pain at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. He posted on his Facebook page, which has thousands of followers, and received hundreds of messages of encouragement and prayers from well-wishers who enjoy his breathtaking photographs of the Island.
Michael was once employed in healthcare administration and spent time at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, one of the founding hospitals of Mass General Brigham. He knew if Dr. Pieter Pil, Dr. Peter Hedberg, or Dr. Richard Koehler couldn’t find the correct treatment, they would send him to Boston.
“I was totally comfortable with the care and the progress reports the physicians were giving,” Michael said. “It was a waiting game. I went home for a short period on New Year’s Day. I ended up back that night because it had not resolved.”
Michael credits Dr. Pil with coming up with the solution – Gastrografin, which is used for X-ray imaging but can also be used for what turned out to be a bowel obstruction. “I was grateful it worked,” Michael said. “I was better, didn’t need surgery, and I didn’t have to go anywhere.”
He has nothing but praise for those who work at the hospital, many of them people he knows either through his extensive social media network or because his partner, Anne-Marie Bell, works at MVH. He was scared because of the pain but reassured by the compassionate care. “You don’t know what’s going to happen next and you have everyone at that hospital, one after another, being so nice – the janitor, the patient care assistant. They’re all coming in: ‘You’re going to be good.’ It’s just a completely different atmosphere,” he said. “Even though they might be stressed, they make you feel like the most important person in that moment.”
Michael spent time meditating in his PJs on the rooftop deck looking out over Lagoon Pond or getting lost in thought as he viewed the photograph in his hospital room donated by acclaimed Vineyard photographer Alison Shaw. “I sent her a nice note saying thanks for having this here. It meant something. I thought it was beautiful. There are so many little things like that that make this place different. To wander the hallways and see all this beautiful artwork, it’s just a different feel,” Michael said.
Michael is also a highly regarded Island photographer. His studio, The Crossroads Gallery, is also in Oak Bluffs near Alison Shaw’s gallery. He enjoys giving back to the community through his calendar sales. “That makes me happy. I’m taking what I’ve learned and the gift I’m given and I’m trying to give back because that helps me stay sober. I don’t have my act completely together so doing those things helps me,” he said. “I call it post traumatic growth. It’s when you go through trauma, and it allows you to achieve levels you wouldn’t have achieved unless you went through that trauma.”
