Remembering Dr. Nolen

I knew Dr. Bill Nolen for over 40 years in many capacities; first, as a new nurse who knew very little, but thought she knew everything. He was a great teacher - he forgot more than most doctors will ever know. He was a constant learner, always sharing articles from The New England Journal of Medicine and other medical journals. He stayed up to date on everything, even COVID.

As an older and wiser nurse, I came to appreciate all the sacrifices he made over his long career to take care of his patients, often sacrificing his own health to do so. He had a servant’s heart. I know for an absolute fact that he would see patients and often not charge them. I walked out of the office with a plastic bag of sample medication many times.

Over the years, I’ve worked with Dr. Nolen in the ER, Labor and Delivery, and on the Med/ Surg floor. I saw him use his wacky sense of humor to lighten a situation or choke-up when a parent saw their baby for the first time. I’ve seen him angry when he needed to be and I’ve seen him show great kindness and compassion to the suffering and dying.

I heard him spout out the generic and trade names for almost every medication developed - a walking drug-reference book.

He knew every exotic lab test in science and his favorite diagnosis was “Mono.”

He dressed like a professional and looked distinguised with his silver curls. In later years, his foot attire changed to tennis shoes, but he made a fashion statement out of that. I’ve known him thin (his low-carb days) where he looked like a million bucks. I’ve known him chubby and happy, eating breakfast tacos in the hospital cafeteria, hiding from Pam. He was a doctor who would never dream of body shaming anyone – he didn’t care what you weighed when you came into the office.

I’ve seen him at a complete loss for words when he found a breast mass on my mother that would eventually kill her, and I saw him cry at her funeral. He’s the one I called when I had any work or family drama – always level-headed and non-judgemental. And he loved juicy gossip.

I saw him move from his office on Guadalupe St. to Travis St. to the office on the St. Mark’s campus. It didn’t matter where he went – his patients followed.

I’ve heard him talk about his kids and how proud he was of each of them as individuals and parents. He knew he wasn’t always a perfect parent and had regrets like we all do.

He was notorious for his corny jokes, often off-color and sometimes bawdy. Maybe the politically correct thing was to be offended, but you couldn’t help but laugh.

He was the County Health Doctor for decades - surely a highly paid position!! And he frequently commented about doing “Jail Rounds” - usually on his Thursday afternoons off.

He took care of all ethnicities, priests, nuns, bankers, farmers, rich, poor and in between. Reading all that’s been written and said about Bill Nolen over the past few days, the common thread is that not only was he your doctor, he was your friend.

He was a veteran and was proud of his service as a medic. He usually closed his office every year on Veteran’s Day in honor of that.

Long after the world of electronic medical records came around, Dr. Nolen still used pen, paper and dictated notes. He would rather sit and chat with patients than stare at a computer. Medicare and insurances penalized him for it, but in true Bill Nolen fashion, he did it anyway, happy to pay the penalty. He did it in his beautiful, recognizable handwriting.

A question everyone is asking since Dr. Nolen left us is “where do I go now”? Who can I find to replace him? We have seen the fall-out of his absence the past few days at the hospital as patients try to figure out a life without him. The answer, quite simply is that he cannot be replaced. There will be other doctors to go to, but none that will match his wit, his diagnostic ability and his sixth sense regarding patients.

He can’t be replaced as a friend. For me, he has been here for me throughout my career. We have yelled at each other a time or two, but have always maintained respect for each other. He has taken care of several generations of my family and many of you can say the same.

He can’t be replaced as a husband to Pam. Their relationship was admirable. She worked as hard as he did when she could have been at home, enjoying life. Instead, she shared his mission.

And he can’t be replaced as a father or a proud Grandpa.

But knowing Dr. Nolen, he is now in charge in Heaven replacing who was in charge before he got there. He’s in a place where breakfast tacos have no calories and there is no pain and suffering for anyone.Where he can come and go as he pleases, taking his time chatting and not worrying about HIPAA (not that he ever did), making up stuff as he goes along and living his best life. That’s the reward he deserves.

Thank you to all of the Nolen family for sharing Dr. Nolen with all of us. Our lives are definitely better because he was in it.

Well done, good and faithful servant. Rest in peace Dr. Nolen. You were loved.