"Celebrating" Dr. Jessica Burgert

I am writing to “celebrate” the role that Dr. Jessica Burgert has played in maintaining my good health.

My wife Jacki and I were fortunate to have been members of Jeff Furman’s MDVIP practice for many years prior to his retirement in August 2020. That good fortune continued when Dr. Burgert subsequently took over his practice. Jacki had been diagnosed with the extremely rare progressive neurological disease Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA) about 3 years prior to that. Although Dr. Burgert had no experience with MSA, because of its 1/40,000 rarity, she jumped in to support us in our subsequent 3-year journey.

There are many manifestations of MSA. Dr. Burgert was always there to discuss the most recent pain, mobility, specialist, comfort, body function and other issues associated with this complicated disease. Importantly, Jacki continued fully aware of what was happening and felt “heard” even as her verbal and physical communication became limited. Jessica’s personal words and concerns were so comforting to Jacki. Her support of our Team Jacki was tremendously helpful in the direct care I was able to provide through my own efforts and that of caregivers. Now, over a year later I look back and truly feel that we were able to do the best possible in a lousy situation and this provided comfort to all. Dr. Burgert, of course, continues as that “special doc.”

Moving on, I need to mention an anecdote that has impacted the rest of my life behavior and shed light on our interactions. It was during my annual exam a few years ago. Coming up to the 80th year, we discussed what I call my life style. In spite of the considerable care for Jacki, I was still able to keep up my vigorous exercise regime and maintain good health as well as wind down my long research career with NIH. We got to sleep evaluation issues. Never a problem getting to sleep, but being 80, there were too frequent trips to the bathroom. With a little encouragement I told her that for years I typically would have 1-2 tidy nightcaps of very good scotch and, of course, at least one strong cup of coffee. In a somewhat not well-disguised façade of incredulity, she stated that I should seriously consider modifying my habits. As I later told her, this “ruined my life” for I immediately stopped all that very bad behaviour. How did I feel? Well, I did sleep a lot better and the bathroom trips were reduced. She would exhibit a glowing smile. Jacki, of course, was pleased at this remarkable change in my behaviour.

And, a final story is still evolving. Although in excellent health, this past January 18, my systolic blood pressure suddenly jumped to ~190, which Google medicine takes seriously. I brought this to Dr. Burgert’s attention at noon the following day since there were no signs of going down. Being a Friday, she immediately coordinated lots of tests and a visit to the clinic in my CCRC. By the next day (Saturday), some nonthreatening results were in and I was seen by her first thing Monday morning. During all this I continued to exhibit my usual healthy phenotype. While nothing in the subsequent ultrasound, echocardiogram and specialist visits identified the cause, the stepwise drug approaches over the past 45 days have gotten me to normal BP levels. I am comfortable with how things are proceeding as Dr. Burgert continues to pursue the source.

So, I continue to “celebrate” Dr. Burgert’s concern for me as a patient and a person. She was wonderfully helpful for Jacki and me during her last years. Over the years we had introduced several of our friends to the practice and they speak glowingly of her medical skills, which validates my feelings. In addition, we all admire her lovely personal style, interactions with her staff and the verbal/picture glimpses that we have of her family, trips, and sports & dance with her kids.

Simply put, we all have been fortunate to have this wonderful Doc in our lives.

Michael Resnick

Michael A. Resnick, PhD
Scientist Emeritus
Formerly: Head, Chromosome Stability Section
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709